Dr Joseph Hawes

Joseph is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation within the Institute of Science and Environment. He is Programme Lead for BSc (Hons) Forest Management & BSc (Hons) Woodland Ecology and Conservation, within the National School of Forestry, and Theme Lead for Conservation and Ecology in the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA).

He received his BSc (Biology) from the University of Nottingham, UK, and his MSc (Applied Ecology and Conservation) and PhD (Environmental Sciences) from the University of East Anglia, UK. His PhD covered floodplain forest ecology in western Brazilian Amazonia, examining the forest structure, phenology patterns and frugivore communities of flooded and unflooded forests, and compiled a synthesis of primate dietary studies from Central and South America.

Joseph conducted postdoctoral research on land-use change and sustainability with Rede Amazônia Sustentável (RAS) at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Brazil, investigating the functional consequences of forest disturbance and recovery for fruit traits and seed dispersal services. He also continued research on the sustainable use and community management of natural resources and ecosystem services at the site of his doctoral study in Amazonia with Projeto Médio Juruá (PMJ)/Instituto Juruá, including postdoc positions at the Universidade do Estado do Amazonas and Anglia Ruskin University.

His most recent position before joining the University of Cumbria, was at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) within the ongoing Amazon Biodiversity and Carbon (ABC) expeditions project, conducting multi-taxa biodiversity surveys and vegetation inventories from under-sampled regions of Brazilian Amazonia.

• Member of the British Ecological Society (BES)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• PgCert (2020) Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Anglia Ruskin University
• PhD (2012) School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
• MSc (2005) Applied Ecology & Conservation, University of East Anglia
• BSc (2002) Biology, University of Nottingham

Joseph is an ecologist, with a particular interest in the consequences of human disturbances and the sustainability of natural resource use.

His research profile in ecology and conservation has a broad coverage of plant and animal communities from terrestrial and aquatic habitats, including specialist knowledge in biodiversity monitoring, forest inventories and carbon stocks, fruit traits and plant-animal interaction networks, animal behaviour and feeding ecology, floodplain ecology, ecosystem services and community-based resource management. He has wide experience in the ecology and conservation of tropical forests, including fieldwork in the Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Mexico, and a particular focus on the Brazilian Amazon.

Joseph’s current research projects include the ongoing Amazon Biodiversity and Carbon (ABC) expeditions project, conducting multi-taxa biodiversity surveys and vegetation inventories from under-sampled regions of Brazilian Amazonia. He is also active in research on floodplain forest ecology and community-based conservation through his role with Instituto Juruá, a Brazilian grassroots organisation promoting the sustainable use and conservation management of natural resources from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in Western Amazonia.

PhD:

• Callum Goff (2025-present): "Scale dependence in landscape restoration: tracking biodiversity gains and agricultural sustainability under environmental land management", University of Cumbria (co-supervisors: M. Verhoeven, S. Carr)
• Carrie Hedges (2023-present): "The potential extent of montane scrub in Great Britain", University of Cumbria (co-supervisors: N. van der Velden, T.M. Robson)
• Jen Muir (2020-2024): “The role of non-linear phenomena in the vocal behaviour of titi monkeys (Callicebinae)”, Anglia Ruskin University (co-supervisors: J.C. Dunn, T. O'Mahoney).

Recent journal articles:

Verba, J.T., Pereira, R.J., Campos-Silva, J.V., Farias, I.P., Hrbek, T., Peres, C.A. & Hawes, J.E. (2026) Fine-scale genomic divergence in the Amazonian pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) highlights the need for local management strategies. Freshwater Biology 71 (3), e70187. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70187 

Berenguer, E., Nunes, C.A., Aguirre-Gutiérrez, J., Ferreira, J., Malhi, Y., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Esquivel-Muelbert, A., Figuiredo, A., Hawes, J.E., Joly, C., Quesada, C., Seixas, M., Vieira, I.C. & Barlow, J. (2025) Multi-faceted assessment of Amazonian tree diversity reveals pervasive impacts of human modification. Global Change Biology 31 (11), e70595. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70595 

Jardine, T., Villamarin, F., Hawes, J.E., Campos-Silva, J.V., Jacobi, C., Srayko, S., Pelletier, A.R. & Magnusson, W. (2025) Forest resources fuel ecosystem respiration and support fish biomass in floodplain lakes of an Amazonian tributary. Freshwater Biology 70 (11), e70121. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70121 

Luypaert, T., Hawes, J.E., Di Ponzio, R., Peres, C.A. & Haugaasen, T. (2025) ‘First record of mating involving a melanistic jaguar (Panthera onca) in the wild: novel behavioural insights into colour morphs and captive‐wild comparisons’, Ecology and Evolution 15 (8), e71776. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71776 

Muir, J., Ravuri, A., Meissner, E., Hawes, J.E., Dufourq, E., O’Mahoney, T., & Dunn, J.C. (2025) ‘Detection and classification of captive coppery titi monkey calls’, Bioacoustics, 34(4), 400-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2025.2496497 

Muir, J., Herbst, C. T., Hawes, J. E., O’Mahoney, T., & Dunn, J. C. (2025) ‘Nonlinear phenomena in mammalian vocal communication: an introduction and scoping review’, Philosophical Transactions B, 380(1923), 20240017. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0017

Bach, A., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2025). ‘Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of Serra do Divisor National Park, Brazil’, Biota Neotropica, 25(1), e20251770. https://doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2025-1770

ter Steege, H., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2025) ‘Functional composition of the Amazonian tree flora and forests’, Communications Biology 8, 355. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07768-8

Sanchez-Martinez, P. …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2025) ‘Phylogenetic conservatism in the relationship between functional and demographic characteristics in Amazon tree taxa’, Functional Ecology, 39(1), 181-198. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14700

Pinho, B.X., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2024) ‘Winner-loser plant trait replacements in human-modified tropical forests’, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 9, 282-295.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02592-5

Luize, B.G., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2024) ‘The biogeography of the Amazon tree flora’, Communications Biology, 7, 1240. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06937-5

Sarneel, J.M., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2024) ‘Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization’, Ecology Letters, 27(5), p. e14415. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14415

Householder, J.E., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2024) 'One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains', Nature Ecology & Evolution, 8, pp. 901-911. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02364-1

Luize, B.G., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2024) 'Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities', Journal of Biogeography, 51(7), pp. 1163-1184. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14816

Ferreira, R.R., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2023) ‘Amazonian forest termites: a species checklist from the State of Acre, Brazil’, Biota Neotropica, 23, p. e20231551. https://doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2023-1551

Arias-Buriticá, J.A., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2023) ‘A New Species of Isocopris Pereira and Martínez, 1960 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from the Southwest Brazilian Amazon’, The Coleopterists Bulletin, 77(4), pp. 629-635. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-77.4.629

ter Steege, H., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2023) 'Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora', Communications Biology, 6(1), p. 1130. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05514-6

Carvalho, R.L., …, The Synergize Consortium et al. (2023) ‘Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research’, Current Biology, 33(16), pp. 3495-3504.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077.

Bach, A., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2023) ‘Bait attractiveness changes community metrics in dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)’, Ecology and Evolution, 13(4), p. e9975. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9975.

Pos, E., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2023) ‘Unraveling Amazon tree community assembly using Maximum Information Entropy: a quantitative analysis of tropical forest ecology’, Scientific Reports, 13(1), p. 2859. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28132-y.

Tonella, L.H., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2023) ‘NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES: A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics’, Ecology, 104(4), p. e3713. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3713.

Carvalho, E.A.R., Hawes, J.E. and Haugaasen, T. (2022) ‘Potential losses of animal-dispersed trees due to selective logging in Amazonian forest concessions’, Trees, Forests and People, 9, p. 100316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2022.100316.

Cook, P., Hawes, J.E. et al. (2022) ‘Human-wildlife conflicts with crocodilians, cetaceans and otters in the tropics and subtropics’, PeerJ, 9, p. e12688. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12688.

Gamarra, N.C., Hawes, J.E. et al. (2022) ‘Arapaima co-management through the lens of the Protected Areas Assets Framework’, Journal for Nature Conservation, 67, p. 126161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2022.126161.

Nyholt, K., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2022) ‘High rates of mercury biomagnification in fish from Amazonian floodplain-lake food webs’, Science of The Total Environment, 833, p. 155161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155161.

Alcocer-Rodríguez, M., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2021) ‘Evaluating extinction debt in fragmented forests: the rapid recovery of a critically endangered primate’, Animal Conservation, 24(3), pp. 432–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12648.

Campos-Silva, J. V., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2021) ‘Community-based conservation with formal protection provides large collateral benefits to Amazonian migratory waterbirds’, PLOS ONE. Edited by J.L. Bossart, 16(4), p. e0250022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250022.

Campos-Silva, J. V., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2021) ‘Sustainable-use protected areas catalyze enhanced livelihoods in rural Amazonia’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(40), p. e2105480118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105480118.

Bredin, Y.K., Hawes, J.E. et al. (2020) ‘Structure and composition of terra firme and seasonally flooded várzea forests in the western Brazilian Amazon’, Forests, 11(12), p. 1361. https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121361.

Hawes, J.E. et al. (2020) ‘A large‐scale assessment of plant dispersal mode and seed traits across human‐modified Amazonian forests’, Journal of Ecology, 108(4), pp. 1365-2745. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13358.

Kattge, J., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2020) ‘TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access’, Global Change Biology, 26(1), pp. 119–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14904.

Nagy‐Reis, M.B., …, Hawes, J.E. et al. (2020) ‘NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics’, Ecology, 101(11), p. e03128. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3128.

Recent book chapters:

Hawes, J.E., Peres, C. and Smith, A. (2024) 'What Extant Primates Eat: A Global Survey', in J. Lambert, M. Bryer and J. Rothman (eds.) How Primates Eat: A Synthesis of Nutritional Ecology across a Mammal Order. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 35-51. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226829746.001.0001.

Campos-Silva, J.V., Hawes, J.E. et al. (2020) ‘Community-Based Management of Amazonian Biodiversity Assets’, in C. Baldauf (ed.) Participatory Biodiversity Conservation. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41686-7_7.

• Development Director (2020-present) Instituto Juruá
• Guest Editor (2020-2021) Forests - Special Issue: “Structure, Function, and Dynamics of Tropical Floodplain Forests"