Professor Yadvinder Malhi

Professor of Ecosystem Science

Programme Leader in Ecosystems Research, ECI

Jackson Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford

Member of the Environment Research Doctoral Training Partnership

Academic Profile

Yadvinder Malhi CBE FRS is Professor of Ecosystem Science at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, and Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College.

Professor Malhi explores the functioning of the biosphere and its interactions with global change, including climate change. He has a particular fascination with and love for tropical forests, though he has recently been spotted in ecosystems ranging from savannas, the Arctic, tropical coral reefs and Oxfordshire's woodlands and floodplain meadows.

He looks at how natural ecosystems may be shifting in response to global atmospheric change, and how protecting or restoring natural ecosystems can help tackle climate change, and help adaptation to the consequences of climate change.

His team at the Environmental Change Institute is known for collecting intensive field data from fascinating but sometimes tough and remote forests. They have ongoing programmes of research in Asia, Africa, the Amazon and Andes regions, and Oxford's own Wytham Woods. A new recent focus has been on nature recovery and biodiversity restoration in the UK.

While addressing fundamental questions about ecosystem function and dynamics, his research findings are significant for conservation and adaptation to climate change. He is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of London, President-Elect of the British Ecological Society, chairs a number of programmes on biodiversity at the Royal Society, and is a scientific advisor on nature restoration for the UK government and the government of Scotland.

He leads an active Ecosystem Dynamics research lab focussing on forest vegetation-atmosphere interactions, employing field studies, satellite remote sensing and ecosystem modelling.

Current Research

The broad scope of my research interests is the impact of global change on the ecology, structure and composition of terrestrial ecosystems, and in particular temperate and tropical forests, though recently I have been spotted a few times in the Antarctic and Arctic … This research addresses fundamental questions about ecosystem function and dynamics, whilst at the same time providing outputs of direct relevance for conservation and adaptation to climate change. We apply a range of techniques including field physiological studies, large-scale and long-term ecological monitoring, social sciences methods, satellite remote-sensing and GIS, ecosystem modelling, and micrometeorological techniques.

My team has a reputation in collecting intensive field data from fascinating but sometimes tough and remote forests, and linking these data to models and satellite data to address global issues surrounding tropical forests.

My university post is supported by the Jackson Foundation, and our global research is funded by grants from the European Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, and others.

Drone Shots

Teaching and Supervision

Prof. Malhi teaches on biodiversity and ecosystem assessment techniques for the MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Management. He also teaches on tropical forests, environmental modelling and GIS/remote sensing for the MSc in Environmental Change and Management, for which he is also an internal examiner.

Current Graduate Research Students

Tina Christmann

Remote sensing to assess ecosystem change and restoration in tropical mountain ecosystems

Trisha Gopalakrishna

Forest Restoration in India: Opportunities and Realities

Victoria Maguire-Rajpaul

Understanding West African cocoa smallholders' adaption to drought: assessing interactions between institutions, poverty and resilience

Laura Picot

Food crops and the role of farmers' gender and intersectional identities in shaping climate resilience in Ghana

Huanyuan Zhang

Calculate tropical NPP by upscaling empirical findings from plot-level forest inventory to a larger scale

Recent Graduate Research Students (since 2006)

Nicolas Raab
Completed DPhil in 2020

Modelling tree carbon allocation, gas and energy exchange in the Amazon through functional structural models

June Rubis
Completed DPhil in 2020

(Re)imagining forest conservation landscapes and development pathways: indigenous strategies in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Anabelle Cardoso
Completed DPhil in 2019

The role of fire and elephants in shaping a central African forest-savannah mosaic

Agne Gvozdevaite
Completed DPhil in 2019

The role of economic, venation and morphological leaf traits in plant and ecosystem function along forest-savannah gradients in the tropics

Toby Jackson
Completed DPhil in 2019

Tree biomechanics: a study of the mechanical stability of broadleaf trees

Christine Moore
Completed DPhil in 2019

Complex Mosaic Landscapes: Novel methodologies to understand dynamics of Cocoa farming in Ghana

Festus Asaaga
Completed DPhil in 2018

Land rights, tenure security and sustainable land use in rural Ghana

Meghan Bailey
Completed DPhil in 2017

Robust adaptation planning and decision-making: a comparative study of subsistence-oriented communities in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and West Africa

Ewan Macdonald
Completed DPhil in 2017

Clouds on the horizon: identifying global priorities for conservation marketing and planning the conservation of the Sunda clouded leopard on Borneo

Cecilia Chavana-Bryant
Completed DPhil in 2016

Impacts of leaf age on the spectral and physiochemical traits of trees in Amazonian forest canopies

Tahia Devisscher
Completed DPhil in 2016

Wildfire under a changing climate in the Bolivian Chiquitania: a social-ecological systems analysis

Selected Publications

Many of these papers are available for download from Prof. Malhi's personal website.

BOOK
Tropical Forests and Global Atmospheric Change
Authors
Malhi, Y. and Phillips, O. (2005)
Oxford University Press
ISBN:
9780198567066
Tropical Forests and Global Atmospheric Change
BOOK
Measuring Tropical Forest Carbon Allocation and Cycling: A RAINFOR-GEM Field Manual for Intensive Census Plots (v2.2)
Authors
Marthews, T.R., Metcalfe, D., Malhi, Y., Phillips, O., Huaraca Huasco, W., Riutta, T., Ruiz Jen, M., Girardin, C., Urrutia, R., Butt, N., Cain, R. and Oliveras, I.
Global Ecosystems Monitoring network
Dahlsjö, C., Atkins, T. and Malhi, Y. (2024) Heliyon, 10(5).
1841729 - Large invertebrate decomposers contribute to faste...
Householder, J., Wittmann, F., Schöngart, J., Piedade, M., Junk, W., Latrubesse, E., Quaresma, A., Demarchi, L., de S Lobo, G., Aguiar, D., Assis, R., Lopes, A., Parolin, P., Leão do Amaral, I., Coelho, L., de Almeida Matos, F., Lima Filho, D., Salomão, R., Castilho, C., Guevara-Andino, J., Carim, M., Phillips, O., Cárdenas López, D., Magnusson, W., Sabatier, D., Revilla, J., Molino, J.-F., Irume, M., Martins, M., Guimarães, J., Ramos, J., Rodrigues, D., Bánki, O., Peres, C., Pitman, N., Hawes, J., Almeida, E., Barbosa, L., Cavalheiro, L., Dos Santos, M., Luize, B., Novo, E., Núñez Vargas, P., Silva, T., Venticinque, E., Manzatto, A., Reis, N., Terborgh, J., Casula, K., Costa, F., Honorio Coronado, E., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Montero, J., Feldpausch, T., Aymard C, G., Baraloto, C., Castaño Arboleda, N., Engel, J., Petronelli, P., Zartman, C., Killeen, T., Rincón, L., Marimon, B., Marimon-Junior, B., Schietti, J., Sousa, T., Vasquez, R., Mostacedo, B., Dantas do Amaral, D., Castellanos, H., Medeiros, M., Simon, M., Andrade, A., Camargo, J., Laurance, W., Laurance, S., Farias, E., Lopes, M., Magalhães, J., Mendonça Nascimento, H., Queiroz, H., Brienen, R., Stevenson, P., Araujo-Murakami, A., Baker, T., Cintra, B., Feitosa, Y., Mogollón, H., Noronha, J., Barbosa, F., de Sá Carpanedo, R., Duivenvoorden, J., Silman, M., Ferreira, L., Levis, C., Lozada, J., Comiskey, J., Draper, F., Toledo, J., Damasco, G., Dávila, N., García-Villacorta, R., Vicentini, A., Cornejo Valverde, F., Alonso, A., Arroyo, L., Dallmeier, F., Gomes, V., Jimenez, E., Neill, D., Peñuela Mora, M., Carvalho, F., Coelho de Souza, F., Feeley, K., Gribel, R., Pansonato, M., Ríos Paredes, M., Barlow, J., Berenguer, E., Dexter, K., Ferreira, J., Fine, P., Guedes, M., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I., Licona, J., Pennington, T., Villa Zegarra, B., Vos, V., Cerón, C., Fonty, É, Henkel, T., Maas, P., Pos, E., Silveira, M., Stropp, J., Thomas, R., Daly, D., Milliken, W., Pardo Molina, G., Vieira, I., Albuquerque, B., Campelo, W., Emilio, T., Fuentes, A., Klitgaard, B., Marcelo Pena, J., Souza, P., Tello, J., Vriesendorp, C., Chave, J., Di Fiore, A., Hilário, R., Pereira, L., Phillips, J., Rivas-Torres, G., van Andel, T., von Hildebrand, P., Balee, W., Barbosa, E., Bonates, L., Doza, H., Gómez, R., Gonzales, T., Gonzales, G., Hoffman, B., Junqueira, A., Malhi, Y., Miranda, I., Mozombite-Pinto, L., Prieto, A., Rudas, A., Ruschel, A., Silva, N., Vela, C., Zent, S., Zent, E., Cano, A., Carrero Márquez, Y., Correa, D., Costa, J., Flores, B., Galbraith, D., Holmgren, M., Kalamandeen, M., Nascimento, M., Oliveira, A., Ramirez-Angulo, H., Rocha, M., Scudeller, V., Sierra, R., Tirado, M., Umaña, M., van der Heijden, G., Vilanova Torre, E., Ahuite Reategui, M., Baider, C., Balslev, H., Cárdenas, S., Casas, L., Farfan-Rios, W., Ferreira, C., Linares-Palomino, R., Mendoza, C., Mesones, I., Parada, G., Torres-Lezama, A., Urrego Giraldo, L., Villarroel, D., Zagt, R., Alexiades, M., de Oliveira, E., Garcia-Cabrera, K., Hernandez, L., Palacios Cuenca, W., Pansini, S., Pauletto, D., Ramirez Arevalo, F., Sampaio, A., Valderrama Sandoval, E., Valenzuela Gamarra, L. and Ter Steege, H. (2024) Nature ecology & evolution [Preprint].
1819733 - One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent...
Morel, A., Demissie, S., Gonfa, T., Mehrabi, Z., Rifai, S., Hirons, M., Gole, T., Mason, J., McDermott, C., Boyd, E., Robinson, E., Malhi, Y. and Norris, K. (2024) Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 366.
1311695 - Landscape and management influences on smallholder...
Hülsmann, L., Chisholm, R., Comita, L., Visser, M., de Souza Leite, M., Aguilar, S., Anderson-Teixeira, K., Bourg, N., Brockelman, W., Bunyavejchewin, S., Castaño, N., Chang-Yang, C.-H., Chuyong, G., Clay, K., Davies, S., Duque, A., Ediriweera, S., Ewango, C., Gilbert, G., Holík, J., Howe, R., Hubbell, S., Itoh, A., Johnson, D., Kenfack, D., Král, K., Larson, A., Lutz, J., Makana, J.-R., Malhi, Y., McMahon, S., McShea, W., Mohamad, M., Nasardin, M., Nathalang, A., Norden, N., Oliveira, A., Parmigiani, R., Perez, R., Phillips, R., Pongpattananurak, N., Sun, I.-F., Swanson, M., Tan, S., Thomas, D., Thompson, J., Uriarte, M., Wolf, A., Yao, T., Zimmerman, J., Zuleta, D. and Hartig, F. (2024) Nature [Preprint].
1694353 - Latitudinal patterns in stabilizing density depend...
Boonman, C., Serra-Diaz, J., Hoeks, S., Guo, W.-Y., Enquist, B., Maitner, B., Malhi, Y., Merow, C., Buitenwerf, R. and Svenning, J.-C. (2024) Nature communications, 15(1), p. 166.
1595481 - More than 17,000 tree species are at risk from rap...
Wilkes, P., Disney, M., Armston, J., Bartholomeus, H., Bentley, L., Brede, B., Burt, A., Calders, K., Chavana‐Bryant, C., Clewley, D., Duncanson, L., Forbes, B., Krisanski, S., Malhi, Y., Moffat, D., Origo, N., Shenkin, A. and Yang, W. (2023) Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 14(12), pp. 3083–3099.
1555638 - TLS2trees: A scalable tree segmentation pipeline f...
Ma, H., Crowther, T., Mo, L., Maynard, D., Renner, S., van den Hoogen, J., Zou, Y., Liang, J., de-Miguel, S., Nabuurs, G.-J., Reich, P., Niinemets, Ü, Abegg, M., Adou Yao, Y., Alberti, G., Almeyda Zambrano, A., Alvarado, B., Alvarez-Dávila, E., Alvarez-Loayza, P., Alves, L., Ammer, C., Antón-Fernández, C., Araujo-Murakami, A., Arroyo, L., Avitabile, V., Aymard, G., Baker, T., Bałazy, R., Banki, O., Barroso, J., Bastian, M., Bastin, J.-F., Birigazzi, L., Birnbaum, P., Bitariho, R., Boeckx, P., Bongers, F., Bouriaud, O., Brancalion, P., Brandl, S., Brearley, F., Brienen, R., Broadbent, E., Bruelheide, H., Bussotti, F., Cazzolla Gatti, R., César, R., Cesljar, G., Chazdon, R., Chen, H., Chisholm, C., Cho, H., Cienciala, E., Clark, C., Clark, D., Colletta, G., Coomes, D., Valverde, F., Corral-Rivas, J., Crim, P., Cumming, J., Dayanandan, S., de Gasper, A., Decuyper, M., Derroire, G., DeVries, B., Djordjevic, I., Dolezal, J., Dourdain, A., Engone Obiang, N., Enquist, B., Eyre, T., Fandohan, A., Fayle, T., Feldpausch, T., Ferreira, L., Finér, L., Fischer, M., Fletcher, C., Fridman, J., Frizzera, L., Gamarra, J., Gianelle, D., Glick, H., Harris, D., Hector, A., Hemp, A., Hengeveld, G., Hérault, B., Herbohn, J., Herold, M., Hillers, A., Honorio Coronado, E., Hui, C., Ibanez, T., Amaral, I., Imai, N., Jagodziński, A., Jaroszewicz, B., Johannsen, V., Joly, C., Jucker, T., Jung, I., Karminov, V., Kartawinata, K., Kearsley, E., Kenfack, D., Kennard, D., Kepfer-Rojas, S., Keppel, G., Khan, M., Killeen, T., Kim, H., Kitayama, K., Köhl, M., Korjus, H., Kraxner, F., Kucher, D., Laarmann, D., Lang, M., Lewis, S., Lu, H., Lukina, N., Maitner, B., Malhi, Y., Marcon, E., Marimon, B., Marimon-Junior, B., Marshall, A., Martin, E., Meave, J., Melo-Cruz, O., Mendoza, C., Merow, C., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Moreno, V., Mukul, S., Mundhenk, P., Nava-Miranda, M., Neill, D., Neldner, V., Nevenic, R., Ngugi, M., Niklaus, P., Oleksyn, J., Ontikov, P., Ortiz-Malavasi, E., Pan, Y., Paquette, A., Parada-Gutierrez, A., Parfenova, E., Park, M., Parren, M., Parthasarathy, N., Peri, P., Pfautsch, S., Phillips, O., Picard, N., Piedade, M., Piotto, D., Pitman, N., Mendoza-Polo, I., Poulsen, A., Poulsen, J., Pretzsch, H., Ramirez Arevalo, F., Restrepo-Correa, Z., Rodeghiero, M., Rolim, S., Roopsind, A., Rovero, F., Rutishauser, E., Saikia, P., Salas-Eljatib, C., Saner, P., Schall, P., Schelhaas, M.-J., Schepaschenko, D., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Schmid, B., Schöngart, J., Searle, E., Seben, V., Serra-Diaz, J., Sheil, D., Shvidenko, A., Silva-Espejo, J., Silveira, M., Singh, J., Sist, P., Slik, F., Sonké, B., Souza, A., Miścicki, S., Stereńczak, K., Svenning, J.-C., Svoboda, M., Swanepoel, B., Targhetta, N., Tchebakova, N., Ter Steege, H., Thomas, R., Tikhonova, E., Umunay, P., Usoltsev, V., Valencia, R., Valladares, F., van der Plas, F., Van Do, T., van Nuland, M., Vasquez, R., Verbeeck, H., Viana, H., Vibrans, A., Vieira, S., von Gadow, K., Wang, H.-F., Watson, J., Werner, G., Westerlund, B., Wiser, S., Wittmann, F., Woell, H., Wortel, V., Zagt, R., Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, T., Zhang, C., Zhao, X., Zhou, M., Zhu, Z.-X., Zo-Bi, I. and Zohner, C. (2023) Nature plants, 9(11), pp. 1795–1809.
1552682 - The global biogeography of tree leaf form and habi...
González-Caro, S., Tello, J., Myers, J., Feeley, K., Blundo, C., Calderón-Loor, M., Carilla, J., Cayola, L., Cuesta, F., Farfán, W., Fuentes, A., Garcia-Cabrera, K., Grau, R., Idarraga, Á, Loza, M., Malhi, Y., Malizia, A., Malizia, L., Osinaga-Acosta, O., Pinto, E., Salinas, N., Silman, M., Terán-Valdéz, A. and Duque, Á (2023) Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 12(20), p. 3546.
1561260 - Historical Assembly of Andean Tree Communities.
Peripato, V., Levis, C., Moreira, G., Gamerman, D., Ter Steege, H., Pitman, N., de Souza, J., Iriarte, J., Robinson, M., Junqueira, A., Trindade, T., de Almeida, F., Moraes, C., Lombardo, U., Tamanaha, E., Maezumi, S., Ometto, J., Braga, J., Campanharo, W., Cassol, H., Leal, P., de Assis, M., da Silva, A., Phillips, O., Costa, F., Flores, B., Hoffman, B., Henkel, T., Umaña, M., Magnusson, W., Valderrama Sandoval, E., Barlow, J., Milliken, W., Lopes, M., Simon, M., van Andel, T., Laurance, S., Laurance, W., Torres-Lezama, A., Assis, R., Molino, J.-F., Mestre, M., Hamblin, M., Coelho, L., Lima Filho, D., Wittmann, F., Salomão, R., Amaral, I., Guevara, J., de Almeida Matos, F., Castilho, C., Carim, M., Cárdenas López, D., Sabatier, D., Irume, M., Martins, M., Guimarães, J., Bánki, O., Piedade, M., Ramos, J., Luize, B., Novo, E., Núñez Vargas, P., Silva, T., Venticinque, E., Manzatto, A., Reis, N., Terborgh, J., Casula, K., Demarchi, L., Honorio Coronado, E., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Montero, J., Schöngart, J., Feldpausch, T., Quaresma, A., Aymard C, G., Baraloto, C., Castaño Arboleda, N., Engel, J., Petronelli, P., Zartman, C., Killeen, T., Marimon, B., Marimon-Junior, B., Schietti, J., Sousa, T., Vasquez, R., Rincón, L., Berenguer, E., Ferreira, J., Mostacedo, B., do Amaral, D., Castellanos, H., de Medeiros, M., Andrade, A., Camargo, J., Farias, E., Magalhães, J., Mendonça Nascimento, H., de Queiroz, H., Brienen, R., Cardenas Revilla, J., Stevenson, P., Araujo-Murakami, A., Barçante Ladvocat Cintra, B., Feitosa, Y., Barbosa, F., Carpanedo, R., Duivenvoorden, J., de Noronha, J., Rodrigues, D., Mogollón, H., Ferreira, L., Householder, J., Lozada, J., Comiskey, J., Draper, F., de Toledo, J., Damasco, G., Dávila, N., García-Villacorta, R., Lopes, A., Cornejo Valverde, F., Alonso, A., Dallmeier, F., Gomes, V., Jimenez, E., Neill, D., Peñuela Mora, M., de Aguiar, D., Arroyo, L., Antunes Carvalho, F., Coelho de Souza, F., Feeley, K., Gribel, R., Pansonato, M., Ríos Paredes, M., Brasil da Silva, I., Ferreira, M., Fine, P., Fonty, É, Guedes, M., Licona, J., Pennington, T., Peres, C., Villa Zegarra, B., Parada, G., Pardo Molina, G., Vos, V., Cerón, C., Maas, P., Silveira, M., Stropp, J., Thomas, R., Baker, T., Daly, D., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I., Vieira, I., Weiss Albuquerque, B., Fuentes, A., Klitgaard, B., Marcelo-Peña, J., Silman, M., Tello, J., Vriesendorp, C., Chave, J., Di Fiore, A., Hilário, R., Phillips, J., Rivas-Torres, G., von Hildebrand, P., Pereira, L., Barbosa, E., de Matos Bonates, L., Doza, H., Zárate Gómez, R., Gallardo Gonzales, G., Gonzales, T., Malhi, Y., de Andrade Miranda, I., Mozombite Pinto, L., Prieto, A., Rudas, A., Ruschel, A., Silva, N., Vela, C., Zent, E., Zent, S., Cano, A., Carrero Márquez, Y., Correa, D., Costa, J., Galbraith, D., Holmgren, M., Kalamandeen, M., Lobo, G., Nascimento, M., Oliveira, A., Ramirez-Angulo, H., Rocha, M., Scudeller, V., Sierra, R., Tirado, M., van der Heijden, G., Vilanova Torre, E., Ahuite Reategui, M., Baider, C., Balslev, H., Cárdenas, S., Casas, L., Farfan-Rios, W., Ferreira, C., Linares-Palomino, R., Mendoza, C., Mesones, I., Urrego Giraldo, L., Villarroel, D., Zagt, R., Alexiades, M., de Oliveira, E., Garcia-Cabrera, K., Hernandez, L., Palacios Cuenca, W., Pansini, S., Pauletto, D., Ramirez Arevalo, F., Sampaio, A., Valenzuela Gamarra, L. and Aragão, L. (2023) Science (New York, N.Y.), 382(6666), pp. 103–109.
1379569 - More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are stil...
Delavaux, C., LaManna, J., Myers, J., Phillips, R., Aguilar, S., Allen, D., Alonso, A., Anderson-Teixeira, K., Baker, M., Baltzer, J., Bissiengou, P., Bonfim, M., Bourg, N., Brockelman, W., Burslem, D., Chang, L.-W., Chen, Y., Chiang, J.-M., Chu, C., Clay, K., Cordell, S., Cortese, M., den Ouden, J., Dick, C., Ediriweera, S., Ellis, E., Feistner, A., Freestone, A., Giambelluca, T., Giardina, C., Gilbert, G., He, F., Holík, J., Howe, R., Huaraca Huasca, W., Hubbell, S., Inman, F., Jansen, P., Johnson, D., Kral, K., Larson, A., Litton, C., Lutz, J., Malhi, Y., McGuire, K., McMahon, S., McShea, W., Memiaghe, H., Nathalang, A., Norden, N., Novotny, V., O’Brien, M., Orwig, D., Ostertag, R., Parker, G., Pérez, R., Reynolds, G., Russo, S., Sack, L., Šamonil, P., Sun, I.-F., Swanson, M., Thompson, J., Uriarte, M., Vandermeer, J., Wang, X., Ware, I., Weiblen, G., Wolf, A., Wu, S.-H., Zimmerman, J., Lauber, T., Maynard, D., Crowther, T. and Averill, C. (2023) Communications biology, 6(1), p. 1066.
1380421 - Mycorrhizal feedbacks influence global forest stru...