Tim Sparks was born in Cambridge, UK. His Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences was awarded by Sheffield Hallam University following earlier masters degrees in Applied Statistics and in Operational Research. Until 1991 he worked in agricultural research switching to ecological research at the Monks Wood Research Station until 2009. In 1998 he founded the UK Phenology Network and has represented the UK in collaborative research programs in phenology. Tim is a visiting professor at the Poznań University of Life Sciences and at the University of Liverpool and was a contributing author to the last IPCC report. He is an editor of the journal Climate Research, and on the editorial boards of five other journals. Immediately prior to starting his fellowship he was working on biodiversity indicators at the University of Cambridge.
Selected Awards
2007, British Ecological Society award for Ecological Engagement
2008, Geoff Pyman Memorial Lecturer
2002, Royal Meteorological Society Margary Lecturer
Honorary Fellow – British Naturalists’ Association
Research Interests
Tim is fascinated by using long term data to detect climate change impacts. These data cover a wide range of topics and a wide geographic area. He has collaborated widely, particularly with researchers in Central and Eastern Europe. His main topic of research is phenology and increasingly the consequences for natural and managed systems of phenological change.
Selected Publications
Sparks, TH; Aasa, A; Huber, K; Wadsworth, R: Changes and patterns in biologically relevant temperatures in Europe 1941–2000. Climate Research 39, 2009, 191-207.
Carroll, E.A.; Sparks, T.H.; Collinson, N.; Beebee, T.J.C.: Influence of temperature on the spatial distribution of first spawning dates of the common frog ( Rana temporaria ) in the UK. Global Change Biology 15 (2), 2009, 467-473.
Gange, A. C.; Gange, E. G.; Sparks, T. H.; Boddy, L.: Rapid and Recent Changes in Fungal Fruiting Patterns. Science 316 (5821), 2007, 71-71.
Sparks, Tim H.: Lateral thinking on data to identify climate impacts. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 22 (4), 2007, 169-171.
Menzel, A.; Sparks, T.H.: European phenological response to climate change matches the warming pattern. Global Change Biol 12 (10), 2006, 1969-1976.
Lehikoinen, E.; Sparks, T.H.; Zalakevicius, M.: Arrival and Departure Dates. In: Birds and Climate Change. Elsevier BV, 2004.
Sparks, T. H.; Menzel, A.: Observed changes in seasons: an overview. International Journal of Climatology 22 (14), 2002, 1715-1725.
Sparks, T. H.; Carey, P. D.: The Responses of Species to Climate Over Two Centuries: An Analysis of the Marsham Phenological Record, 1736-1947. The Journal of Ecology 83 (2), 1995, 321.
J. Laube, K. Ziegler, T. H. Sparks, N. Estrella, and A. Menzel: Tolerance of alien plant species to extreme events is comparable to that of their native relatives. Preslia, 87 (1), 2015, 31-53 more…BibTeX
Laube, Julia; Sparks, Tim H.; Bässler, Claus; Menzel, Annette: Small differences in seasonal and thermal niches influence elevational limits of native and invasive Balsams. Biological Conservation 191, 2015, 682-691 more…BibTeX
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McCollin, Duncan; Preece, Richard C.; Sparks, Tim H.: Pushing back the baseline: a novel approach to detect long-term changes in terrestrial faunal abundance using historical qualitative descriptions. European Journal of Ecology 1 (1), 2015, 32-42 more…BibTeX
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Zang, C; Helm, R; Sparks, TH; Menzel, A: Forecasting bark beetle early flight activity with plant phenology. Climate Research 66 (2), 2015, 161-170 more…BibTeX
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2014
T. H. Sparks, A. Bock, and A. Casebow: The floral calendar of Nigel Jee. La Société Guernesiaise. Reports Transactions 27 (3), 2014, 549-571 more…BibTeX
Amano, Tatsuya; Freckleton, Robert P.; Queenborough, Simon A.; Doxford, Simon W.; Smithers, Richard J.; Sparks, Tim H.; Sutherland, William J.: Links between plant species’ spatial and temporal responses to a warming climate. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281 (1779), 2014, 20133017 more…BibTeX
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Bock, Anna; Sparks, Tim H.; Estrella, Nicole; Jee, Nigel; Casebow, Andrew; Leuchner, Michael; Menzel, Annette: Climate sensitivity and variation in first flowering of 26 Narcissus cultivars. International Journal of Biometeorology 59 (4), 2014, 477-480 more…BibTeX
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Bock, Anna; Sparks, Tim H.; Estrella, Nicole; Jee, Nigel; Casebow, Andrew; Schunk, Christian; Leuchner, Michael; Menzel, Annette: Changes in first flowering dates and flowering duration of 232 plant species on the island of Guernsey. Global Change Biology 20 (11), 2014, 3508-3519 more…BibTeX
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Brooks, Stephen J.; Self, Angela; Toloni, Flavia; Sparks, Tim: Natural history museum collections provide information on phenological change in British butterflies since the late-nineteenth century. International Journal of Biometeorology 58 (8), 2014, 1749-1758 more…BibTeX
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Hardy, Peter B.; Sparks, Tim H.; Dennis, Roger L. H.: The impact of climatic change on butterfly geography: does climatic change produce coincident trends in populations, distributions and ranges? Biodiversity and Conservation 23 (4), 2014, 855-876 more…BibTeX
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Menzel, Annette; Matiu, Michael; Sparks, Tim H.: Twenty years of successful papers in Global Change Biology. Global Change Biology 20 (12), 2014, 3587-3590 more…BibTeX
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Sparks, TH: Local-scale adaptation to climate change: the village flower festival. Climate Research 60 (1), 2014, 87-89 more…BibTeX
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Taeger, S.; Sparks, T. H.; Menzel, A.: Effects of temperature and drought manipulations on seedlings of Scots pine provenances. Plant Biology 17 (2), 2014, 361-372 more…BibTeX
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2013
Bock, Anna; Sparks, Tim H.; Estrella, Nicole; Menzel, Annette: Climate-Induced Changes in Grapevine Yield and Must Sugar Content in Franconia (Germany) between 1805 and 2010. PLoS ONE 8 (7), 2013, e69015 more…BibTeX
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F. E. Wielgolaski, T. H. Sparks, E. J. Koch, and M. R. Keatley: Phenology and climate change. In: UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. Eolss Publishers, 2013 more…BibTeX
Laube, Julia; Sparks, Tim H.; Estrella, Nicole; Höfler, Josef; Ankerst, Donna P.; Menzel, Annette: Chilling outweighs photoperiod in preventing precocious spring development. Global Change Biology 20 (1), 2013, 170-182 more…BibTeX
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Sparks, Tim H.; Crick, Humphrey Q. P.; Dunn, Peter O.; Sokolov, Leonid V.: Birds. In: Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science. Springer Netherlands, 2013 more…BibTeX
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Sparks, Tim; Menzel, Annette: Plant Phenology Changes and Climate Change. In: Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. Elsevier, 2013 more…BibTeX
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T. H. Sparks, S. Atkinson, and K. Lewthwaite: Snow, snowdrops, lawns and observers - Topics from nature's calendar/UK phenology network. British Wildlife 24 (4), 2013, 265-268 more…BibTeX
Tryjanowski, Piotr; Sparks, Tim H.; Jerzak, Leszek; Rosin, Zuzanna M.; Skórka, Piotr: A Paradox for Conservation: Electricity Pylons May Benefit Avian Diversity in Intensive Farmland. Conservation Letters 7 (1), 2013, 34-40 more…BibTeX
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Tryjanowski, Piotr; Sparks, Tim H.; Kuźniak, Stanisław; Czechowski, Paweł; Jerzak, Leszek: Bird Migration Advances More Strongly in Urban Environments. PLoS ONE 8 (5), 2013, e63482 more…BibTeX
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2012
Cornelius, Christine; Leingärtner, Annette; Hoiss, Bernhard; Krauss, Jochen; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Menzel, Annette: Phenological response of grassland species to manipulative snowmelt and drought along an altitudinal gradient. Journal of Experimental Botany 64 (1), 2012, 241-251 more…BibTeX
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Newnham, R. M.; Sparks, T. H.; Skjøth, C. A.; Head, K.; Adams-Groom, B.; Smith, M.: Pollen season and climate: Is the timing of birch pollen release in the UK approaching its limit? International Journal of Biometeorology 57 (3), 2012, 391-400 more…BibTeX
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2011
Bock, A; Sparks, T; Estrella, N; Menzel, A: Changes in the phenology and composition of wine from Franconia, Germany. Climate Research 50 (1), 2011, 69-81 more…BibTeX
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2010
Thackeray, S.J.; Sparks, T.H.: Trophic level asynchrony in rates of phenological change for marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. Global Change Biology 16 (12), 2010, 3304-3313 more…BibTeX
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