Matthew Adeleye

Understanding past ecosystem dynamics to address contemporary ecological challenges.

Research Area

My research investigates how vegetation, wetlands, fire, land use, and climate have changed and interacted over timescales ranging from centuries to millennia. I do this by integrating palaeoecological, ecological, and historical/ethnographic approaches to understand how long-term environmental change can inform contemporary biodiversity management and conservation goals. The ecosystems I study range from treeless peatlands to rainforest systems across the UK, Africa, Australia, and Canada. My research focuses on long-term patterns of plant composition and diversity, wetland development and carbon storage, and fire regimes in the context of climate change and human land use. I place particular emphasis on the lived experiences and knowledge of local and Indigenous communities, incorporating their cultural perspectives into the interpretation of palaeoecological records to better understand past human–environment interactions and their present-day implications. My research is strongly motivated by contemporary conservation challenges. As a result, I work closely with land managers, conservation organisations, and local and Indigenous communities to ensure that research questions are aligned with management priorities and community interests. I currently collaborate with the Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust, Ghana Wildlife Society, Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (Ontario), the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (Yukon), and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in Australia.

Project Interests

I am interested in developing an integrative conservation palaeoecology project to inform forest and wetland restoration, management, monitoring and protection in one or more of the following areas: Atlantic rainforest in the UK, boreal forest of Pacific Northwestern America, Upper Guinean Forest of Ghana, Sclerophyllous swamp forest of Bass Strait in Tasmania. Depending on the location of focus, the project may address questions related to centennial – millennial changes in flora composition and diversity, wetland development and dynamics of below-ground carbon storage, wildfire regimes, as well as long-term climate and human impacts. 

Potential CASE Collaborations

I am interested in developing an integrative conservation palaeoecology project to inform forest and wetland preservation and management in the boreal forest of Pacific Northwest America, Upper Guinean Forest of Ghana, and the Atlantic rainforest area of the UK.