Owen Jones

About

I am an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, where my research focuses on the diversity of life histories, demographic behaviours, and phenological patterns across the tree of life. My work addresses some of the most fundamental questions in life history research: why do some species live long lives while others have shorter lifespans, and how do organisms time their life cycle events in response to environmental changes? Demography lies at the core of my research, which I approach across three hierarchical levels: * Single Population Level: I explore demographic processes within individual populations using advanced tools such as Bayesian Survival Trajectory Analysis. * Species Level: I adopt a 'macrodemographic' perspective, studying multiple spatially separated populations of the same species to uncover broader patterns and trends. * Comparative Level: I conduct cross-species analyses of demographic traits to understand better the evolution of life history strategies, including ageing mechanisms and patterns. In addition to my demographic work, I have a growing line of research on phenology, investigating the timing of life cycle events such as reproduction, migration, and flowering and how these are influenced by environmental variation and climate change. This new focus integrates ecological, evolutionary, and demographic perspectives to explore how timing shifts affect population dynamics and species interactions. This research requires developing and applying sophisticated analytical techniques to integrate demographic, phylogenetic, and phenological data. Alongside addressing key questions in the evolution of life histories and phenology, I contribute to advancing statistical methods and building demographic databases to support broader ecological and evolutionary research.

Work

University of Southern Denmark

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Associate Professor

Denmark

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University of Southern Denmark

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Assistant Professor

Denmark

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Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

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Research Scientist

Germany

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Zoological Society of London - Institute of Zoology

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Imperial College London

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Post-doctoral Research Associate

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Imperial College London

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Post-doctoral Research Associate

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Education

University of Aberdeen

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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MSc Ecology

Imperial College London

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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PhD Biology

University of York

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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BSc Biology

Publications

The compadre Plant Matrix Database: an open online repository for plant demography

Journal of Ecology

journal-article

Grazing ecology, parasitism and performance of Soay sheep on St. Kilda

journal-article

High-resolution data are necessary to understand the effects of climate on plant population dynamics of a forest herb

Ecology

journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short‐term studies of temperate‐region herbaceous perennials

Oikos

journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short-term studies of temperate-region herbaceous perennials

Oikos

journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short‐term studies of temperate‐region herbaceous perennials

Oikos

journal-article

Uncertainty propagation in matrix population models

Methods in Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

Uncertainty propagation in matrix population models: Gaps, importance and guidelines

Methods in Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

High‐resolution data are necessary to understand the effects of climate on plant population dynamics of a forest herb

Ecology

journal-article

Sensitive aerial hearing within a noisy nesting soundscape in a deep-diving seabird, the common murre Uria aalge

Marine Ecology Progress Series

journal-article

Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough: Understanding Mortality and Life Expectancy in European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)

Animals

journal-article

Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough

Animals

journal-article

Beyond the Fast-Slow Continuum of Life Histories

other

A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information

Methods in Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

Uncertainty propagation in matrix population models: gaps, importance, and guidelines

preprint

Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough: Understanding Mortality and Life Expectancy in European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)

Animals

journal-article

Rcompadre and Rage—Two R packages to facilitate the use of the COMPADRE and COMADRE databases and calculation of life‐history traits from matrix population models

Methods in Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

Life-history predicts global population responses to the weather in terrestrial mammals

eLife

journal-article

Mechanisms and Pathways Contributing to the Diversity of Aging Across the Tree of Life

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

other

The effect of climate on age specific survival and senescence in a Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) population in Lithuania, across 1997-2021

ARPHA Conference Abstracts

conference-abstract

Climate causes shifts in grey seal phenology by modifying age structure

Proceedings of the Royal Society B

journal-article

The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food‐limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda

Journal of Ecology

journal-article

The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food-limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda

Journal of Ecology

journal-article

Bridging gaps in demographic analysis with phylogenetic imputation

Conservation Biology

journal-article

Bridging gaps in demographic analysis with phylogenetic imputation

Conservation Biology

journal-article

The effect of nest temperature on growth and survival in juvenile Great Tits Parus major

Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

The myriad of complex demographic responses of terrestrial mammals to climate change and gaps of knowledge

Journal of Animal Ecology

journal-article

Rcompadre and Rage - two R packages to facilitate the use of the COMPADRE and COMADRE databases and calculation of life history traits from matrix population models

preprint

Life-history predicts global population responses to the weather in the terrestrial mammals

preprint

Herbaceous perennial plants with short generation time have stronger responses to climate anomalies than those with longer generation time

Nature Communications

journal-article

Life tables

Demographic Methods across the Tree of Life

book-chapter

Drivers of large‐scale spatial demographic variation in a perennial plant

Ecosphere

journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short-term studies of temperate-region herbaceous perennials

preprint

The diel pattern in harbour porpoise clicking behaviour is not a response to prey activity

Scientific Reports

journal-article

The diel pattern in harbour porpoise clicking behaviour is not a response to prey activity

Scientific Reports

journal-article

Census data aggregation decisions can affect population‐level inference in heterogeneous populations

Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

Short-lived plants have stronger demographic responses to climate

biorxiv

preprint

My family and other animals: Human demography under a comparative cross-species lens

Human Evolutionary Demography

book-chapter

Drivers of large-scale spatial demographic variation in a perennial plant

preprint

Genetic structure of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark

PLOS ONE

journal-article

Genetic structure of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark

PLOS ONE

journal-article

Comments to “Persistent problems in the construction of matrix population models”

Ecological Modelling

journal-article

Comments to “Persistent problems in the construction of matrix population models”

Ecological Modelling

other

Demographic amplification is a predictor of invasiveness among plants

Nature Communications

journal-article

The ecology of suburban juvenile European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark

Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) as a natural reservoir of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carrying mecC in Denmark

PLOS ONE

journal-article

Animal life history is shaped by the pace of life and the distribution of age-specific mortality and reproduction

Nature Ecology & Evolution

journal-article

Data gaps and opportunities for comparative and conservation biology

PNAS

journal-article

The diversity of population responses to environmental change

Ecology Letters

journal-article

The diversity of population responses to environmental change

Ecology Letters

journal-article

Global analysis reveals complex demographic responses of mammals to climate change

BioRxiv

journal-article

Towards global data products of Essential Biodiversity Variables on species traits

Nature Ecology & Evolution

journal-article

Introduction: Wilting Leaves and Rotting Branches

The Evolution of Senescence in the Tree of Life

book-chapter

Individual heterogeneity determines sex differences in mortality in a monogamous bird with reversed sexual dimorphism

Journal of Animal Ecology

journal-article

Individual heterogeneity determines sex differences in mortality in a monogamous bird with reversed sexual dimorphism

Journal of Animal Ecology

journal-article

Global representation of threatened amphibians ex situ is bolstered by non-traditional institutions, but gaps remain

Animal Conservation

journal-article

The evolution of senescence in the tree of life

book

Life History Trade-Offs Modulate the Speed of Senescence

The Evolution of Senescence in the Tree of Life

book-chapter

Senescence is not inevitable

Biogerontology

journal-article

Senescence is not inevitable

Biogerontology

journal-article

Actuarial senescence in a long-lived orchid challenges our current understanding of ageing

Proceedings of the Royal Society B

journal-article

Life History Patterns

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology

encyclopedia-entry

The emergence of longevous populations

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

journal-article

The emergence of longevous populations

PNAS

journal-article

Age and sex-specific mortality of wild and captive populations of a monogamous pair-bonded primate (Aotus azarae)

American Journal of Primatology

journal-article

COMADRE

Journal of Animal Ecology

journal-article

Fast-slow continuum and reproductive strategies structure plant life-history variation worldwide

PNAS

journal-article

COMADRE: a global database of animal demography

report

Age and sex-specific mortality of wild and captive populations of a monogamous pair-bonded primate ( Aotus azarae )

Am. J. Primatol.

journal-article

Diversity of ageing across the tree of life

journal-article

The Pace and Shape of Senescence in Angiosperms

Journal of Ecology

journal-article

Zoos through the lens of the IUCN red list: A global metapopulation approach to support conservation breeding programs

journal-article

Zoos can lead the way with ex situ conservation.

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums Magazine

journal-article

Zoos through the lens of the IUCN Red List: a global metapopulation approach to support conservation breeding programs

PLOS ONE

journal-article

The pace and shape of senescence in angiosperms

journal-article

Latitudinal gradients in taxonomic overdescription rate affect macroecological inferences using species list data

journal-article

Latitudinal gradients in taxonomic overdescription rate affect macroecological inferences using species list data

Ecography

journal-article

A comparison of four methods for detecting weak genetic structure from marker data

journal-article

A comparison of four methods for detecting weak genetic structure from marker data

Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

BaSTA: an R package for Bayesian estimation of age-specific survival from incomplete mark-recapture/recovery data with covariates

Methods in Ecology and Evolution

journal-article

Childlessness drives the sex difference in the association between income and reproductive success of modern Europeans

journal-article

Childlessness drives the sex difference in the association between income and reproductive success of modern Europeans

Evolution and Human Behavior

journal-article

Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2010) 107, (8292-8297) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0913792107)

journal-article

Correction for Phillimore et al., Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation

PNAS

journal-article

An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity

Science Magazine

journal-article

An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity

journal-article

Conservation. An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity

Science

journal-article

Zoos and captive breeding: Response

journal-article

COLONY: A program for parentage and sibship inference from multilocus genotype data

journal-article

Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation

journal-article

Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation

PNAS

journal-article

Molecular marker-based pedigrees for animal conservation biologists

journal-article

Molecular marker-based pedigrees for animal conservation biologists

Animal Conservation

journal-article

Assessing the reliability of biodiversity databases: Identifying evenly inventoried island parasitoid faunas (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) worldwide

journal-article

Are species-area relationships from entire archipelagos congruent with those of their constituent islands?

journal-article

Using taxonomic revision data to estimate the geographic and taxonomic distribution of undescribed species richness in the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea)

Insect Conservation and Diversity

journal-article

Re-establishment of nematode infra-community and host survivorship in wild Soay sheep following anthelmintic treatment

journal-article

Using taxonomic revision data to estimate the geographic and taxonomic distribution of undescribed species richness in the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea)

journal-article

Senescence rates are determined by ranking on the fast-slow life-history continuum

journal-article

A web resource for the UK's long-term individual-based time-series (LITS) data

journal-article

A web resource for the UK's long-term individual-based time-series (LITS) data

Journal of Animal Ecology

journal-article

Correcting the problem of false incongruence due to noise imbalance in the incongruence length difference (ILD) test

journal-article

Parasite-induced anorexia in a free-ranging mammalian herbivore: An experimental test using Soay sheep

journal-article

Distribution of a naturally fluctuating ungulate population among heterogeneous plant communities

Journal of Animal Ecology

journal-article

Distribution of a naturally fluctuating ungulate population among heterogeneous plant communities: Ideal and free?

journal-article

Predictors of early survival in Soay sheep: Cohort-, maternal- and individual-level variation

journal-article

Predictors of early survival in Soay sheep cohort-, maternal- and individual-level variation

Proceedings of the Royal Society B

journal-article

Different hunting strategies select for different weights in red deer

journal-article

Different hunting strategies select for different weights in red deer

Biology Letters

journal-article