Email: zarah.pattison@newcastle.ac.uk

Twitter: @ZarahPattison

Personal website: https://zarahsinthefield.wordpress.com/

Research group member: Modelling, Evidence and Policy research group 

Memberships

• British Ecological Society
• British Ecological Society Invasion Science Group (Co-Secretary)
• Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland
• Freshwater Biological Association 

• Associate Editor for Plant-Environment Interactions

• International Foundation for Science (IFS)

Research Interests

Drivers and consequences of  alien plant invasions: Broad research interests include responses of invasive alien plants to changes in climate and how this impacts native communities and ecosystems. More specifically, I am interested in the competitive effects between dominant native and invasive alien plant species at varying spatial and temporal scales. Current research is focused on predicting environmental drivers of aquatic invasive alien plant hotspots globally and how this differs from terrestrial alien plants. 

Water security: I have a keen interest in water security and water quality. Much of my research is focused on inland freshwater systems. Previous research addressed questions relating to connectivity and presence/abundance of pathogenic bacteria in freshwater systems. Current research project is assessing the risk of invasion from bulk water transfers in the North East of England, UK.

Food security: I have a keen interest in the risk of invasion by alien species to food security, particularly in freshwater systems. Much of this work is in context of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals and how invasions may reduce progress to targets.

Biodiversity loss: Thinking about policy implications of invasive species, in respect to the Convention of Biological Diversity, I am keen to understand best practice in mitigating biodiversity loss and assessing best methods of action in order to achieve 2030 targets in reducing invasive species impacts.

Module Leader

MSc : BIO8073 Global assessments for policy support

MSc : BIO8062 Global Species Conservation Principles and Practice

BSc 2nd year : BIO2032 Residential Field Skills Course

Contributor

MSc : NES8002 Research Dissertation Project

MSc : BIO8072 CHANS- Coupled Socio-ecological Systems

BSc 3rd year : BIO3039 Biodiversity Science and Management

BSc 3rd year : BIO3194/5/6 Research Projects 

BSc 1st year : MST1204 Academic and Professional Skills for Biosciences

• da Silva DA, Pfeifer M, Pattison Z, Vibrans AC. Drivers of leaf area index variation in Brazilian Subtropical Atlantic Forests. Forest Ecology and Management 2020, 476, 118477.
• Kuunal S, Mair L, Pattison Z, McGowan PJK. Identifying opportunities for improving the coherence of global agreements for species conservation. Conservation Science and Practice 2020, (ePub ahead of Print).
• Seebens H, Bacher S, Blackburn TM, Capinha C, Dawson W, Dullinger S, Genovesi P, Hulme PE, van Kleunen M, Kühn I, Jeschke JM, Lenzner B, Liebhold AM, Pattison Z, Pergl J, Pyšek P, Winter M, Essl F. Projecting the continental accumulation of alien species through to 2050. Global Change Biology 2020, 27(5), 970-982.
• Jones IL, DeWalt SJ, Lopez OR, Bunnefeld L, Pattison Z, Dent D. Above- and belowground carbon stocks are decoupled in secondary tropical forests and are positively related to forest age and soil nutrients respectively. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 697, 133987.
• Seeney A, Eastwood S, Pattison Z, Willby NJ, Bull CD. All change at the water’s edge: invasion by non-native riparian plants negatively impacts terrestrial invertebrates. Biological Invasions 2019, 21(6), 1933-1946.
• Pattison Z, Vallejo-Marin M, Willby N. Riverbanks as Battlegrounds: Why Does the Abundance of Native and Invasive Plants Vary?. Ecosystems 2019, 22(3), 578-586.
• Seeney A, Pattison Z, Willby NJ, Boon PJ, Bull CD. Stream invertebrate diversity reduces with invasion of river banks by non-native plants. Freshwater Biology 2019, 64(3), 485-496.
• Law A, Baker A, Sayer C, Foster G, Gunn IDM, Taylor P, Pattison Z, Blaikie J, Willby NJ. The effectiveness of aquatic plants as surrogates for wider biodiversity in standing fresh waters. Freshwater Biology 2019, 64(9), 1664-1675.
• Pattison Z, Whytock R, Willby N. Invasion legacy effects versus sediment deposition as drivers of riparian vegetation. Biological Invasions 2018, 20(5), 1189-1198.
• Pattison Z, Minderman J, Boon PJ, Willby N. Twenty years of change in riverside vegetation: what role have invasive alien plants played?. Applied Vegetation Science 2017, 20(3), 422-434.
• Pattison Z, Rumble H, Tanner RA, Jin L, Gange AC. Positive plant-soil feedbacks of the invasive Impatiens glandulifera and their effects on above-ground microbial communities. Weed Research 2016, 56(3), 198-207.