I am a long-term ecologist and global-change ecologist studying ecological responses to environmental change. I lead the PalaeoChem Research Group and am an active researcher in Palaeoecology at UiB. My main work is in developing new methods to (i) reconstruct UV-B radiation in sediments based on pollen-chemical biomarkers and (ii) investigate other applications of pollen chemistry in long-term ecology. I am also interested in using long-term ecological and other time-series datasets to better understand drivers of ecosystem and biodiversity change in the past, present and future. We mainly use field and greenhouse experiments and sediment cores to research these questions.

I also act as leader the Ecological and Environmental Change Research Group, which consists of 8 other permanent members of staff and series of other research teams whose focus is on understanding the drivers of biodiveristy and ecological and evolutionary changes in terrestrial ecosystems.

I am very interested in supervising masters students for 2025 and 2026! Please get in contact if you are interested in doing a project either in the field, lab, or greenhouse! We have lots of potental exciting projects including:

• Greenhouse experiments to test UV responses of plants (within the Laschamps-UV project and with Alistair Seddon)
• Measures of ecosystem resilience using fossil pollen records (with a specific focus on South African Biomes with Alistair Seddon)
• Quantifying biodiversity change and the responses to human activity in the Holocene (with Vivian Felde)
   

Course Leader: BIO201 Økologi

Course Leader: BIO301 Aktuelle tema i biodiversitet, evolusjon og økologi

Lecturer: BIO250 Palaeoecology.

Faggruppeleder: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution.

Muthreich, F.,  Magnussen, E.A, Heitmann Solheim, J., Tafintseva, V., Kohler V., Seddon, A.W.R.,  Zimmermann, B. Analytical and experimental solutions for Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy measurements of microparticles: A case study on Quercus pollen,
Analytica Chimica Acta, Volume 1351, 2025, 343879, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2025.343879.

Gillson, L., Seddon, A., Mottl, O., Zhang, K., Kirsten, K., Gell, P., Marchant, R.A., Schwörer, C., Razanatsoa, E., Lane, P.J., Courtney-Mustaphi, C.J. and Dearing, J. (2025), Exploring the Interface Between Planetary Boundaries and Palaeoecology. Glob Change Biol, 31: e70017. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70017

Seddon, A.W.R. and Zimmermann, B. Comment on “Dying in the Sun: Direct evidence for elevated UV-B radiation at the end-Permian mass extinction”. Science Advances 9, eadi0570(2023).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adi0570

Prohaska, A., Seddon, A.W.R., Rach, O., Smith, A., Sachse, D. and Willis, K.J. (2023), Long-term ecological responses of a lowland dipterocarp forest to climate changes and nutrient availability. New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19169

Prohaska, A., Seddon, A.W.R., Meese, B. et al. Abrupt change in tropical Pacific climate mean state during the Little Ice Age. Communications Earth and Environment 4, 227 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00882-7

Bhatta K.P., Mottl O/, Felde V.A., Flantua S.G.A., Birks H.H., Cao X., Chen F., Grytnes J.-A., Seddon A.W.R.,Birks H.J.B. Exploring spatio-temporal patterns of palynological changes in Asia during the Holocene. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11, (2023) DOI=10.3389/fevo.2023.1115784

Kusch, E.,  Davy, R. &  Seddon, A.W.R. (2022).  Vegetation-memory effects and their association with vegetation resilience in global drylands. Journal of Ecology,  110,  1561– 1574. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13891

Lamentowicz, M., Seddon A.W.R. and Jassey VEJ (2022) Editorial: Functional Traits as Indicators of Past Environmental Changes. Front. Ecol. Evol. 9:827743. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.827743

Mackay, A.W., Felde, V.A., Morley, D.W., Piotrowska, N., Rioual, P., Seddon, A.W.R., Swann, G.E.A. (2022) Long-term trends in diatom diversity and palaeoproductivity: a 16 000-year multidecadal record from Lake Baikal, southern Siberia. Climates of the Past, 18, 363–380, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-363-2022

Williams, J.W., Huntley, B. & Seddon, A.W.R. (2022) Climate Sensitivity and Ecoclimate Sensitivity: Theory, Usage, and Past Implications for the Future Biospheric Responses.Current Climate Change Reports. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-022-00179-5

Seddon, A.W.R., Festi, D., Nieuwkerk, M., Gya, R., Krüger, L.C., Östman, S.A.H., Robson, T.M. (2021). Pollen-chemistry variations along elevation gradients and their implications for a proxy for UV-B radiation in the plant-fossil record. Journal of Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13720

Robson, T.M., Bernhard, G.H., Bais, A.F., Seddon, A.W.R., Barnes, P.W. (2021) Floral bullseyes and stratospheric ozone, Current Biology, Volume 31, Issue 14,2021.

Brovkin, V., Brook, E., Williams, J.W., Bathiany, S., Lenton, T.M., Barton, M., DeConto, R.M., Donges, J.F., Ganopolski, A., McManus, J., Praetorius, S., de Vernal, A., Abe-Ouchi, A., Cheng, H., Claussen, M., Crucifix, M., Gallopín, G., Iglesias, V., Kaufman, D.S., Kleinen, T., Lambert, ., van der Leeuw, S., Liddy, H., Loutre, M-F, McGee, D., Rehfeld, K., Rhodes, R., Seddon, A.W. R., Trauth, M.H., Vanderveken, L., Yu, Z. (2021) Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system. Nature Geoscience, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00790-5 

Mottl, O., Grytnes, J-A., Seddon, A.W.R., Steinbauer, M.J., Bhatta, K.P., Felde, V.A. Flantua, S.G.A., Birks, H.J.B. (2021) Rate-of-change analysis in paleoecology revisited: A new approach, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Volume 293,104483, ISSN 0034-6667 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2021.104483.

Mottl, O., Flantua, S.G.A., Bhatta, K.P., Felde, V.A., Giesecke, T., Goring, S., Grimm, E.C., Haberle, S., Hooghiemstra, H., Ivory, S., Kuneš, P., Wolters, S., Seddon, A.W.R., Williams, J.W. (2021) Global acceleration in rates of vegetation change over the last 18,000 years. Science. 372 (6544): 860-864

Seddon, A.W.R. Special feature: measuring components of ecological resilience in long-term ecological datasets, 2021. Biology Letters 17: 20200881. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0881

Abel, C, Horion, S.,  Tagesson, T., De Keersmaecker, W, Seddon, A. W. R., Abdi, A. M. and Fensholt. R, The human–environment nexus and vegetation–rainfall sensitivity in tropical drylands. Nature Sustainability, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00597-z

Muthreich, F., Zimmermann, B., Birks, H.J.B., Vila-Viçosa, C.M. and Seddon, A.W.R. (2020) Chemical variations in Quercus pollen as a tool for taxonomic identification: implications for long-term ecological and biogeographic research. Journal of Biogeography https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13817

Seddon, A.W.R., Festi, D., Robson, T.M. and Zimmermann, B. (2019) Fossil pollen and spores as a tool for reconstructing ancient solar-ultraviolet irradiance received by plants: an assessment of prospects and challenges using proxy-system modelling. Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences DOI: 10.1039/C8PP00490K 

Bell, B.A, Fletcher, W.J., Ryan, P., Seddon, A.W.R., Wogelius, R.A. and Ilmen, R. (2018) UV-B-absorbing compounds in modern Cedrus atlantica pollen: The potential for a summer UV-B proxy for Northwest Africa. The Holocene DOI: 10.1177/0959683618777072

Morris, J. L., Cottrell, S., Fettig, C.J.,DeRose, J.R., Mattor, K.M., Carter, V.A., Clear, J., Clement, J. Hansen, W.D., Hicke, J.A., Higuera, P.E., Seddon, A.W.R., Seppä, H., Sherriff, R.L., Stednick, J.D., and Seybold, S.J. (2018). Bark beetles as agents of change in social–ecological systems. Front Ecol Environ 2018; 16(S1): S34–S43, doi: 10.1002/fee.1754

Long, P. R., Benz, D., Martin, A. C., Holland, P. W. A., Macias-Fauria, M., Seddon, A. W. R., Hagemann, R., Frost, T.K., Simpson, A., Power, D.J., Slaymaker, M.A., Willis, K.J. (2017). LEFT-A web-based tool for the remote measurement and estimation of ecological value across global landscapes. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 37, 379–9. http://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12924

Seddon, A.W.R., Jokerud, M., Barth, T., Birks, H.J.B., Krüger, L., Vandvik, V. and Willis, K.J. (2017). Improved quantification of UV-B absorbing compounds in Pinus sylvestris L. pollen grains using an internal standard methodology. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 247: 97-104

Mackay, A.W., Seddon, A.W.R., Leng, M.J., Heumann, G., Morley, D.W., Piotrowska, N., Rioual, P., Roberts, S., Swann, G.E.A. (2017). Holocene carbon dynamics at the forest – steppe ecotone of southern Siberia. Global Change Biology doi: 10.1111/gcb.13583

Proske, U., Stevenson, J., Seddon A.W.R., Taffs, K. (2017). Holocene diatom records of wetland development near Weipa, Cape York, Australia. Quaternary International. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.09.014

Morris, J.L., Carter, V.A., Clear, J., Clement, J., Cottrell, S., DeRose, R.J., Fettig, C.J., Hansen, W.D., Hicke, J.A., Higuera, P.A., Mattor, K.A., Seddon, A.W.R., Seppӓ, H., Seybold, S., Sherriff, R., Stednick, J.D. Bark beetle impacts on social-ecological systems: Priority questions to inspire future research (2016) Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12782

Seddon, A.W.R., Macias Fauria, M., Long, P., Benz, D. and Willis, K.J. (2016). Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability. Nature 531: 229-231

Birks, H.J.B.B, Astrup-Felde, V. and Seddon, A.W.R. (2016). Biodiversity trends within the Holocene. The Holocene 1- 8. doi: 10.1177/0959683615622568

Lange-Bertalot, H., Witkowski, A., Kulikovskiy, M., Seddon, A.W.R. and Kociolek, J.P. (2015) Taxonomy, frustular morphology and systematics of Platichthys, a new genus of canal raphe bearing diatoms within the Entomoneidaceae. Phytotaxa 236 (2): 135–149

Willis, K.J., Seddon, A.W.R., Long, P., Jeffers, E., Caithness, N., Thurston, M., Smit, M., Hagemann, R., Macias-Fauria, M. (2015) Remote Assessment of Locally Important Ecological Features across Landscapes: How Representative of Reality? Ecological Applications 25(5): 1290-1302

Seddon, A.W.R., Macias-Fauria, M and Willis, K.J. (2015). Climate and abrupt vegetation change in Northern Europe since the last deglaciation. The Holocene 25(1): 25-36

Seddon, A.W.R., Froyd, C.A., Witkowski, A, and Willis, K.J (2014). A quantitative framework for analysis of regime shifts in a Galapagos coastal lagoon. Ecology 95(11): 3046-3055

Macias Fauria, M., Seddon, A.W.R., Long, P., Benz, D. and Willis, K.J. (2014) Spatiotemporal patterns of warming. Response to Ji et al. 2014. Evolution of land surface air temperature trend. Nature Climate Change 4: 845-846 doi:10.1038/nclimate2372

Mace, G.M., Reyers, B., Alkemade, R., Biggs, R., Chapin III F.S., Cornell, S.E., Díaz, S, Jennings, S., Leadley, P.W., Mumby, P.J., Purvis, A., Scholes, R.J., Seddon, A.W.R., Solan, M., Steffen, W., Woodward, G. (2014) Approaches to defining a planetary boundary for biodiversity. Global Environmental Change 28: 289-297 

Seddon, A.W.R., Witkowski, A, Froyd, C.A., Kurdlowski, K.J., Grzonka, J. and Willis, K.J (2014). Diatoms from isolated islands II: Pseudostaurosira diablarum, a new species from a mangrove ecosystem in the Galápagos Islands. Diatom Research 29: 201-211 doi: 10.1080/0269249X.2013.877084 

Seddon A.W.R, Mackay A.W., Baker A.G., Birks H.J.B., Breman E., Buck C.E., Ellis E.C., Froyd C.A., Gill J.A., Gillson L., Johnson E.A., Jones V.J., Juggins S, Macias-Fauria M., Mills K., Morris J.L., Nogués-Bravo D., Punyasena S.W., Roland T.P., Tanentzap A.J., Willis K.J., Aberhan M., van Asperen E.N., Austin W.E.N., Battarbee R.W., Bhagwat S., Belanger C.L., Bennett K.D., Birks H.H., Bronk Ramsey C., Brooks S.J., de Bruyn M., Butler P.G., Chambers F.M., Clarke S.J., Davies A.L., Dearing J.A., Ezard T.H.G., Feurdean A., Flower R.J., Gell P., Hausmann S., Hogan E.J., Hopkins M.J., Jeffers E.S., Korhola A.A., Marchant R., Kiefer T., Lamentowicz M., Larocque-Tobler I., López-Merino L., Hsiang Liow L., McGowan S., Miller J.H., Montoya E., Morton O., Nogué S., Onoufriou C., Park Boush L., Rodriguez-Sanchez F., Rose N.L., Sayer C.D., Shaw H.E., Payne R., Simpson G., Sohar K., Whitehouse N.J., Williams J.W. & Witkowski A. (2014) Looking forward through the past: Identification of 50 priority research questions in palaeoecology. Journal of Ecology 102: 256-267 doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12195

Mackay, A.W, Seddon, A.W.R., Baker, A.G. (2013) Palaeo50: The Priority Research Questions in Palaeoecology. PAGES News 21(2):89

Seddon, A.W.R. (2012) “Paleoecology.” In Oxford Bibliographies Online: Ecology. Ed. David Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Seddon, A.W.R, Froyd C.A., Leng M.J., Milne G.A., Willis K.J. (2011) Ecosystem Resilience and Threshold Response in the Galápagos Coastal Zone. PLoS One 6(7): e22376. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022376

Seddon, A.W.R., Froyd, C.A. and Witkowski, A. (2011) Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) of isolated islands: New taxa in the genus Navicula sensu stricto from the Galápagos Islands. Journal of Phycology 47: 861–879. doi: 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2011.01026.x