Madeleine Barton

Research Ecologist

Office: Thetford

Team(s): Terrestrial Research Team

Contact

Madeleine is a Research Ecologist in the Terrestrial Ecology team, exploring the responses of birds to air pollution and agri-environment schemes.

Since joining the BTO in 2021, Maddie has worked on a range of projects using citizen-science data to assess the impacts of human activities on terrestrial birds.

Interests and responsibilities

Madeleine has a particular interest in how animals interact with their microclimates (e.g. temperature, water availability, habitat structure), and how these processes in turn shape their distributions and life-cycles across broad spatial and temporal scales. During her PhD, she developed a process-based model for a broadly distributed butterfly, with which she could predict its likely response to climate change. Maddie subsequently worked in South Africa and Australia, using various modelling approaches to explore how climate and management practises impact agricultural pests and their natural enemies, like lady birds and parasitic wasps.

Qualifications

2013 PhD, Predicting responses to climate change: Eco-physiology of the Common Brown Butterfly, Heteronympha merope, The University of Melbourne
2006 BSc (Hons) Genetics, The University of Melbourne

Recent BTO publications

Henderson, I., Barton, M., Field, A., Husbands, R., Jones, G., Armour-Chelu, N. & Conway, G.J 2025. Post-fledging movements in an elusive raptor, the Eurasian Goshawk Accipiter gentilis: scale of dispersal, foraging range and habitat interactions in lowland England. Ibis doi:10.1111/ibi.13403
Barton, M.G., Conway, G.J., Henderson, I.G., Baddams, J., Balchin, C.S., Brides, K., Butcher, N., Cameron, T.C., Davis, T., Eyre, J., Foster, R., Gornall, D., Karipal Kallamballi, N., Laurie, P., Nixon, A., Noyes, P., Parish, D.M.B., Samson, L., Smart, J., Wilde, N., Wright, M.A. & Dolman, P.M. 2025. Identity of predators of bird nests in the British Islands. Ibis doi:10.1111/ibi.13436
Barton, M.G., Henderson, I., Border, J.A. & Siriwardena, G.M. 2023. A review of the impacts of air pollution on terrestrial birds. Science of The Total Environment 873: doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162136
Williams, J.M., Scott, S.E., Galbraith, C.A., Martay, B., Macphie, K.H., Hereward, H.F.R., Barton, M.G., Bowgen, K.M., Pearce-Higgins, J.W. & Robinson, R.A. 2023. Climate change and migratory species: a review of impacts, conservation actions, indicators and ecosystem services..

Other publications

Maino, J.L., Schouten, R., Overton, K., Day, R., Ekesi, S., Bett, B., Barton, M., Gregg, P.C., Umina, P.A. and Reynolds, O.L. 2021. Regional and seasonal activity predictions for fall armyworm in Australia. Current Research in Insect Science, 1, p.100010.

Lehmann, P., Ammunét, T., Barton, M., Battisti, A., Eigenbrode, S.D., Jepsen, J.U., Kalinkat, G., Neuvonen, S., Niemelä, P., Terblanche, J.S. and Økland, B. 2020. Complex responses of global insect pests to climate warming. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 18(3), pp.141-150.

Barton, M.G., Terblanche, J.S. and Sinclair, B.J. 2019. Incorporating temperature and precipitation extremes into process-based models of African lepidoptera changes the predicted distribution under climate change. Ecological Modelling, 394, pp.53-65.

Barton, M.G., Clusella‐Trullas, S. and Terblanche, J.S. 2019. Spatial scale, topography and thermoregulatory behaviour interact when modelling species’ thermal niches. Ecography, 42(2), pp.376-389.

Barton, M., Sunnucks, P., Norgate, M., Murray, N. and Kearney, M. 2014. Co-gradient variation in growth rate and development time of a broadly distributed butterfly. PLoS One, 9(4), p.e95258.