AREAS OF RESEARCH
My research is rooted in principles of Landscape Ecology with a focus on understanding the responses of biodiversity and ecological systems to changing landscapes. I work at a variety of scales from regional to local and use a multitude of quantitative tools to address questions in two primary areas. Climate change and landuse change, specifically we are modeling the habitat dynamics of tree and bird species across the Eastern United States. This research theme addresses macroecological processes with a strong interest toward linking these patterns to regional management decisions. Wildlife ecology, we are exploring influences of forest management practices and urbanization on the behavioral decisions and habitat utilization of vertebrates. This research theme focuses heavily on movement ecology to understand habitat requirements for birds.
LINKS TO ASSOCIATED WEB SITES
Climate change atlas for 134 tree species and 147 bird species http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/atlas/
USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station http://nrs.fs.fed.us/people/snmatthews
Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Laboratory http://twel.osu.edu/
Ohio Biodiversity Conservation Partnership http://obcp.osu.edu/
LINKS TO NEWS ARTICLES
Urban Bird research
Feeding your feathered friends
https://senr.osu.edu/news/feeding-your-feathered-friends-study-finds-complex-relationships-among-bird-feeders-predators
Even small patches of urban woods are valuable for migrating birds. OSU Research by Jeff Grabmeier.
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/urbanforest.htm
Urban trees 'help migrating birds'. BBC Science and Environment by Mark Kinver.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10130458
Climate change research
Forests Across U.S. Face Drought Threat
https://senr.osu.edu/news/forests-across-us-face-drought-threat-study
Of birds and trees and climate change. Twineline (in conjunction with OSU Climate Change Webinar Series) by Christina Dierkes.
http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/_documents/twineline/v33i3.pdf
Global climate change: what could happen to our northern forests? USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station Research Review by Rebecca Nisley.
http://nrs.fs.fed.us/news/review/1
A Bird's-eye view of climate change. UMaine Today by Nick Houtman.
http://magarchive.umaine.edu/issues/v5i1/birds.html
COURSES OFFERED
ENR 3300 - Introduction to Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife
ENR 5360 - Principles of Wildlife Ecology and Management
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (A 5 YEAR SPAN)
Adams B.T., Matthews S.N., Peters M.P., Prasad A., and Iverson L.R. 2019. Mapping floristic gradients of forest composition using an ordination-regression approach with landsat OLI and terrain data in the Central Hardwoods region. Forest Ecology and Management434:87-98
Adams B.T., and Matthews S.N. 2018. Enhancing Forest and Shrubland Mapping in a Managed Forest Landscape with Landsat–LiDAR Data Fusion. Natural Areas Journal38(5):402-419
Iverson L.R., Peters M.P., Bartig J.L., Rebbeck, J., Hutchinson, T.F., Matthews, S.N., and Stout, S. 2018. Spatial modeling and inventories for prioritizing investment into oak-hickory restoration. Forest Ecology and Management424:355-366
Malpass J., Rodewald A., Matthews S., and Kearns L. 2018 Nest predators, but not nest survival, differ between adjacent urban habitats. Urban Ecosystems:1-14
McCluskey E.M., Matthews S.N., Ligocki I.Y., Holding M.L., Lipps Jr G.J., and Hetherington T.E. 2018. The importance of historical land use in the maintenance of early successional habitat for a threatened rattlesnake. Global Ecology and Conservation13
Palus J.D., Goebel P.C., Hix D.M., and Matthews S.N. 2018. Structural and compositional shifts in forests undergoing mesophication in the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio. Forest Ecology and Management430:413-420
Dossman, B.C., Matthews, S.N. and Rodewald, P.G.. 2017. An experimental examination of the influence of energetic condition on the stopover behavior of a Nearctic–Neotropical migratory songbird, the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). The Auk135:91-100.
Matthews, S.N., and Iverson, L.R. 2017. Managing for delicious ecosystem service under climate change: can United States sugar maple (Acer saccharum) syrup production be maintained in a warming climate? International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management13:40-52.
Iverson, L. R., Thompson, F.R., Matthews, S., Peters, M., Prasad, A., Dijak, W.D., Fraser, J. Wang, W.J., Hanberry, B. and He, H. 2017. Multi-model comparison on the effects of climate change on tree species in the eastern US: results from an enhanced niche model and process-based ecosystem and landscape models. Landscape Ecology32:1327-1346.
Malpass, J.S., Rodewald, A.D., and Matthews, S.N. 2016. Species-dependent effects of bird feeders on nest predators and nest survival of two urban birds. Condor. 119: 1:16
Karns, G., Gates, R., Matthews, S., Bruskotter, J., McCoy, J. Tonkovich, M. 2016. Factors influencing spatial heterogeneity of female white-tailed deer harvest dynamics. Wildlife Society Bulletin40: 758-763
James S. Clark, J.S., Iverson, L., Woodall, C.W., Allen, C.D., Bell, D.M., Bragg, D.C., D’Amato, A.W., Davis, F.D.,Hersh, M.H., Ibanez, I., Jackson, S.T., Matthews, S., Pederson, N., Peters, M., Schwartz, M., Waring, K.M., and Zimmermann, N.E. 2016. The impacts of increasing drought on forest dynamics, structure, and biodiversity in the United States. Global Change Biology22:2329-2352
Dossman, B., Mitchell, G.W.; Norris, R., Taylor, P.D., Guglielmo, C., Matthews, S.N., Rodewald, P.G. 2016. The effects of wind and fuel stores on stopover departure behavior across a migratory barrier. Behavioral Ecology 27:567-574
Iverson, L.R., Knight, K., Prasad, A., Hearms, D., Matthews, S.N., Peters, M., Smith, A., Hartzler, D., Long, R. 2016. Potential species replacements for black ash (Fraxinus nigra) at the confluence of two threats: emerald ash borer and a changing climate. Ecosystems19:248-270.
Prasad, A. M., Iverson, L. R., Matthews, S. N., and Peters, M. P. 2016. A multistage decision support framework to guide tree species management under climate change via habitat suitability and colonization models, and a knowledge-based scoring system. Landscape Ecology, 31: 2187-2204.
Peters, M.P., L.R. Iverson and S.N. Matthews. 2015. Long-term droughtiness and drought tolerance of eastern US forests over five decades. Forest Ecology and Management345:56-64.
McDermott, M. E., Rodewald, A. D., and Matthews, S. N. 2015. Managing tropical agroforestry for conservation of flocking migratory birds. Agroforestry Systems89: 383-396
Malpass, J.S., Rodewald, A.D., and Matthews, S.N. 2015. Woody cover does not promote activity of nest predators in residential yards. Landscape and Urban Planning135:32-39.
Coronado, Carlos J., T. Eric McConnell and Stephen N. Matthews. 2015. Forestry and forest products in Ohio: 2011 Economic impacts with comparisons to 2001 values. Wood and Fiber Science 47(2):60-170.
Matthews, S.N., Iverson, L.R., Peters, M.P., Prasad, A.M., and Subburayalu, S. 2014. Assessing and comparing risk to climate changes among forested locations: implications for ecosystem services. Landscape Ecology 29:213-228
Janowiak, M.K., Swanston, C.W., Nagel, L.M., Brandt, L.A., Butler, P.R., Handler, S.D., Shannon, D.P, Iverson, L.R, Matthews, S.N., Prasad, A.M. and Peters, M.P. 2014. A practical approach for translating climate change adaptation principles into forest management actions.Journal of Forestry 112: 424-433
Duval, R.P., McConnell, T.E., Hix, D.M., Matthews, S.N., and Williams, R.A. 2014. Ohio Hardwood Sawlog Price Trends. Wood and Fiber Science46:85-96.
Peters, M.P., Matthews, S.N., Iverson, L.R., Prasad, A.M. 2014. Delineating generalized species boundaries from species distribution data and a species distribution model.International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 28:1547-1560
Coronado, C.J., McConnell, T.E. and Matthews, S.N. 2014. Economic impacts of timber product outputs in Ohio across timber market regions. Bioresources9:7579-7592.
