Robert Whittaker - Selected Publications#

1 Whittaker, R. J., Willis, K. J., & Field, R. (2001) Scale and species richness: towards a general, hierarchical theory of species diversity. Journal of Biogeography 28, 453-470. [Influential paper, previously listed as highly cited by SCI, 1965 citations according to Google Scholar.]

2 Whittaker, R. J., Triantis, K.A. and Ladle, R.J. (2008) A general dynamic theory of oceanic island biogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 35, 977-994. [Cited 760 times according to Google Scholar, initiated a new theoretical structure/paradigm within island biogeography.]

3 Matthews, T. J., Rigal, F., Triantis, K.A. & Whittaker, R.J. (2019) A global model of island species–area relationships. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 116 (25), 12337–12342. [Already cited 62 times, this paper marks an important advance in understanding species-area relationships for islands generally.]

4 Rahbek, C., Borregaard, M.K., Antonelli, A., Colwell, R.K., Holt, B.G., Nogues-Bravo, D., Rasmussen, M.Ø., Richardson, K., Rosing, M.T. Whittaker, R.J, & Fjeldså, J. (2019). Building mountain biodiversity: geological and evolutionary processes. Science, 365, 1114–1119. [This paper has been cited 450 times and its companion paper (not listed) in the same issue of Science has been cited 588 times, both according to Google Scholar; marking an important theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding of species diversity variation in time and space]

5 Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Otto, R., Borregaard, M. K., Kreft, H., Price, J. P., Steinbauer, M. J., Weigelt, P. & Whittaker, R. J. (2021) Evolutionary winners are ecological losers among oceanic island plants. Journal of Biogeography, 48, 2186-2198. [So far cited 18 times, this paper challenges assumptions related to the evolutionary fitness of species that have evolved in situ on oceanic islands.]

6. Whittaker, R.J., Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Matthews, T.J., Borregaard, M.K., & Triantis, K.A. (2017) Island Biogeography: taking the long view of nature’s laboratories. Science, 357, eaam8326. [Cited times, this article synthesises contributions by the authors and others, providing a new perspective on long term biogeographical dynamics on islands.]

7. Matthews, T.J., Guilhaumon, F., Triantis, K.A., Borregaard, M.K. & Whittaker, R.J. (2016) On the form of species–area relationships in habitat islands and true islands. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 25, 847–858. [cited 135 times, this paper provides a meta-analysis of diversity variation for all types of island system, demonstrating scale-dependence of diversity variation as a function of island area.]

8. Whittaker, R. J., Fernández-Palacios, J. M. & Matthews, T. J. (2023) Island Biogeography: geo-environmental dynamics, ecology, evolution, human impact, and conservation. Oxford University, Press, Oxford. [Previous editions of this book have been cited 3200 times according to Google Scholar; provides the go to text for the subject, recognised as the leading synthesis of the field. This latest edition provides the latest synthesis and is a significant update on the previous version.]

9. Matthews, T. J., Triantis, K.A. & Whittaker, R.J. (eds) (2021) The Species-Area Relationship: Theory and Application. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [A new synthesis involving the leading authors in the field, providing the definitive work on the topic.]

10. Lomolino, M.V., Riddle, B.R., & Whittaker, R.J. (2017) Biogeography, 5th edn. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA. [This book is the leading general Biogeography text book, and the title has attracted over 5000 citations to date.]