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Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
40
Citations
7480
World Ranking
6050
National Ranking
640

Overview

William A. Foster is affiliated with the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Foster's research primarily spans the fields of Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with a substantial focus on Ecology.

Their work covers a range of ecological and environmental subfields, including Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Global and Planetary Change, Genetics, and Insect Science. Foster's contributions address significant topics such as Oil Palm Production and Sustainability, Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology, Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management, as well as Plant and animal studies. Research also includes Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior, Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior, and Insect-Plant Interactions and Control.

Foster has authored multiple research papers with topics centered around tropical agriculture, conservation, and ecology. Selected recent publications include:

  • Managing Oil Palm Plantations More Sustainably: Large-Scale Experiments Within the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Programme, 2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
  • Removing understory vegetation in oil palm agroforestry reduces ground-foraging ant abundance but not species richness, 2020, Basic and Applied Ecology
  • Thresholds for adding degraded tropical forest to the conservation estate, 2024, Nature
  • Complexity within an oil palm monoculture: The effects of habitat variability and rainfall on adult dragonfly (Odonata) communities, 2020, Biotropica
  • Spiders in canopy and ground microhabitats are robust to changes in understory vegetation management practices in mature oil palm plantations (Riau, Indonesia), 2022, Basic and Applied Ecology

Frequent coauthors collaborating with Foster include Edgar C. Turner, Sarah H. Luke, Holly Barclay, Martina F. Harianja, and Chey Vun Khen.

The scientist's publications appear consistently in journals such as Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Nature, and Basic and Applied Ecology.

Best Publications

  • Evidence for the dilution effect in the selfish herd from fish predation on a marine insect

    W. A. Foster;J. E. Treherne

  • Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality

    Patrick Abbot;Jun Abe;John Alcock;Samuel Alizon

  • Establishing the evidence base for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function in the oil palm landscapes of South East Asia

    William A. Foster;Jake L. Snaddon;Edgar C. Turner;Tom M. Fayle;Tom M. Fayle

  • The evolution of soldiers in aphids.

    David L. Stern;William A. Foster

  • Doubling the estimate of invertebrate biomass in a rainforest canopy

    Martin D. F. Ellwood;William A. Foster

  • Oil palm expansion into rain forest greatly reduces ant biodiversity in canopy, epiphytes and leaf-litter

    Tom M. Fayle;Edgar C. Turner;Jake L. Snaddon;Vun Khen Chey

  • Group transmission of predator avoidance behaviour in a marine insect: The trafalgar effect

    J.E. Treherne;W.A. Foster

  • Biodiversity and agricultural sustainagility: from assessment to adaptive management

    Louise Jackson;Meine van Noordwijk;Janne Bengtsson;William A. Foster

  • The impact of forest conversion to oil palm on arthropod abundance and biomass in Sabah, Malaysia

    Edgar C. Turner;William A. Foster

  • Stochastic and deterministic processes jointly structure tropical arthropod communities.

    M. D. Farnon Ellwood;Andrea Manica;William A. Foster

  • Children's Perceptions of Rainforest Biodiversity: Which Animals Have the Lion's Share of Environmental Awareness?

    Jake L. Snaddon;Edgar C. Turner;Edgar C. Turner;William A. Foster

  • Canopy Ferns in Lowland Dipterocarp Forest Support a Prolific Abundance of Ants, Termites, and Other Invertebrates1

    Martin D. F. Ellwood;David T. Jones;William A. Foster

  • Altruistic Housekeeping in a Social Aphid

    T. G. Benton;W. A. Foster

  • Arthropod abundance, canopy structure, and microclimate in a Bornean lowland tropical rain forest

    Roman J. Dial;Martin D. F. Ellwood;Edward C. Turner;William A. Foster

  • Oil Palm Research in Context: Identifying the Need for Biodiversity Assessment

    Edgar C. Turner;Jake L. Snaddon;Tom M. Fayle;William A. Foster

  • The evolution of sociality in aphids: a clone's-eye view

    David L. Stern;William A. Foster

  • Group size and anti-predator strategies in a marine insect

    J.E. Treherne;W.A. Foster

  • Litter manipulation and the soil arthropod community in a lowland tropical rainforest

    Oliver S. Ashford;William A. Foster;Benjamin L. Turner;Emma Sayer

  • The effects of group size on predator avoidance in a marine insect

    J.E. Treherne;W.A. Foster

  • Experimental evidence for effective and altruistic colony defence against natural predators by soldiers of the gall-forming aphid Pemphigus spyrothecae (Hemiptera : Pemphigidae)

    W. A. Foster

  • Establishing the evidence base for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function in the oil palm landscapes of

    William A. Foster;Jake L. Snaddon;Edgar C. Turner;Tom M. Fayle

Frequent Co-Authors

Edgar C. Turner
Edgar C. Turner University of Cambridge
Tom M. Fayle
Tom M. Fayle Queen Mary University of London
Paul Eggleton
Paul Eggleton Natural History Museum
Eleanor M. Slade
Eleanor M. Slade Nanyang Technological University
Jeremy Field
Jeremy Field University of Exeter
Andrea Manica
Andrea Manica University of Cambridge
Alex J. Dumbrell
Alex J. Dumbrell University of Essex
David L. Stern
David L. Stern Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Kelvin S.-H. Peh
Kelvin S.-H. Peh University of Southampton
Marion Pfeifer
Marion Pfeifer Newcastle University

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