Research output per year
Research output per year
Universitetsparken 15
2100 København Ø
Research activity per year
I'm a Professor in biodiversity and Director of the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC), and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen.
Leading scientist holding four professorial appointments in Denmark, UK, and China with key research in biodiversity focusing on what determines distribution and diversity of life on Earth with >400 published scientific articles, including 25 in Science and Nature. In addition to biodiversity and macroecology, I also conduct research in economy, climate, and human health.
I have broad experience both globally, regionally, and nationally in science-policy applied activities, including assisting decision makers in the Danish Parliament and ministries, some of Denmark’s largest companies, and international institutions such as UNEP, IPCC, FAO, and the World Bank on issues related to biodiversity. Furthermore, I am a member of the governmental Biodiversity Council, and have acted as a scientific advisor to the Presidency of the European Union in the establishment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in 2011-2012, and leads today IPBES in Denmark on behalf of the Danish universities.
I was elected member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters at the age of 41, and is named Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate. In 2019, I was awarded the annual prize for research in the natural sciences by the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs; the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Prize for Technical and Scientific Research (2012); the Danish Elite Researcher Prize (2010). In 2020, I received the Order of Dannebrog by the Danish Royal House.
Carsten Rahbek, Professor in Biodiversity, Director of Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC) and Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen
Nationality: Danish
Bate of birth: 3 March 1965
Working address:
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate
Globe Institute
University of Copenhagen
Universitetsparken 15, Building 3, 2nd floor
DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Phone: +45 35 32 10 30
Email: [email protected]
Biodiversity, macroecology, biogeography, conservation biology, climate change, UN SDGs, green economy, environmental economy, human health relations, science policy, leadership.
International
The World Bank, United Nations, EU Commission, EU Presidency, IPBES, The European Research Council, UN World Conservation Monitoring Center, UNEP, IUCN, FAO, WWF-US, Conservation International, BirdLife International, The Nature Conservancy.
Governmental
The Danish Parliament, Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Ministry of Environment and Food, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Transport, Building & Housing, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Fisheries.
Foundations
Danish National Research Foundation (DG), Velux Foundations/Villum Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Aage V. Jensen Nature Fund, Innovation Fund Denmark, The Danish Nature Fund.
Private sector - national
Ørsted, Mærsk, Novozymes, Velux, Fehmern, DHI, COWI Consult, Rambøll, Forenet Kredit, Kredit Danmark, Nordea, Dansk Mode og Textil (DM&T).
Organizations - national
Danish Economic Council, Danish Board of Technology, Danish Culture & Food Council, Danish National Environmental Research.
Publication-list of peer-reviewed journal papers for the last 10 years (January 2009)
152 publications, including 86 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 1 scientific book, 2 monographies, 5 peer-reviewed book-chapters, and 53 other articles. Of these 61 papers are ISI-listed journal publications with 1651 citations, cf. Web of Science, June 2008).
** = Papers that have received citations to pass the 1 pct threshold level set to select highly cited papers to be listed in ISI Essential Science Indicators (cf. Highly Cited Papers Thresholds) in the "Environment/Ecology" category.
§ = Papers recommended by the Faculty 1000 within Biology.
¶ = Papers selected as Editors' Choice in Science, or subjected full Editorial papers in Science or Nature (e.g., Perspective papers or News & Views papers).
In press
Araujo, M.B., Nogués-Bravo, D., Diniz-Filho J. A. F., Haywood, A.M., Valdes, P.J., and Rahbek, C. In press. Quaternary climate changes explain diversity among reptiles and amphibians. Ecography
Colwell, R. K., Gotelli, N. J., Rahbek, C., Entsminger G. L., Farrell C., and Graves G. R. In press. Peaks, plateaus, canyons, and craters: The complex geometry of simple mid-domain effect models. Evolutionary Ecology Research.
Stensgaard, A.S., A. Jørgensen, N.B. Kabatereine, C. Rahbek and T.K. Kristensen. In press. Modeling freshwater snail habitat suitability and areas of potential snail-borne disease transmission in Uganda. Geospatial Health
Published, 2008
Bladt, J., Larsen, F. W., and Rahbek C. In press. Does taxonomic diversity in indicator groups influence their effectiveness in identifying priority areas for species conservation? Animal Conservation
Grytnes, J. A., Beaman, J. H., Romdal T. S., and Rahbek, C. The mid-domain effect matters: simulation analyses of range-size distribution data from Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Journal of Biogeography
Larsen F. W., Bladt J., and Rahbek C. Indicator taxa revisited: useful for conservation planning? Diversity and Distributions
Larsen F.W., Petersen, A. H., Strange, N., Lund, M.P., and Rahbek, C. A quantitative analysis of biodiversity and recreational values in potential national parks in Denmark. Environmental Management 41: 685-695
Nogués-Bravo, D., Araujo, M.B., Romdal T. S., and Rahbek, C. 2008. Scale effects and human impact on the elevational species richness gradients. Nature 453: 216-219
Pettersson, L.B. and Rahbek C. Editorial: launching Software Notes. Ecography 31: 3, 2008
Pütz, K., Helbig, A. J., Pedersen, K. T., Rahbek, C., Saurola, P., and Juvaste, R. 2008. From fledging to breeding: long-term satellite tracking of the migratory behaviour of a lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus intermedius. Ringing & Migration, British Trust for Ornithology 24: 7-10
Romdal, T.S. and Rahbek C. (conditionally accepted). Elevational zonation of afrotropical forest bird communities along a homogeneous forest gradient. Journal of Biogeography
Skov, M.N. Madsen, J.J., Rahbek, C., Lodal, J., Jespersen, J.B., Jørgensen, J.C., Dietz, H.H., Chriél, M., and Baggesen, D.L. In Press. Transmission of Salmonella between wildlife and meat-production animals in Denmark. Journal of Applied Microbiology
Stephen, G. Willis, Dave G. Hole, Yvonne C. Collingham, Geoff Hilton, Carsten Rahbek and Brian Huntley. In press. Assessing the Impacts of Future Climate Change on Protected Areas Networks: A Method to Simulate Individual Species Responses. Environmental Management
Tøttrup, A. P., Thorup, K., Rainio, K., Yosef, R., Lehikoinen, E., and Rahbek, C. In press. Avian migrants adjust migration in response to environmental conditions en route. Biology Letters
Published, 2007
Araujo, M. B. and Rahbek C. 2007. Conserving biodiversity in a world of conflicts. Journal of Biogeography 34: 199-200
Burgess, N.D., A. Balmford, N. J. Cordeiro, J. Fjeldså, W. Küper, C. Rahbek, E. W. Sanderson, J. P.W. Scharlemann, H. Sommer, and P.H. Williams. 2007. Correlations among species distributions, human density and human infrastructure across the high biodiversity tropical mountains of Africa. Biological Conservation. 134: 164-177
Kissling, W. D., Rahbek, C. and Böhning-Gaese, K. 2007. Food plant diversity as broad-Scale Determinant of Avian Frugivore Richness. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences 274: 799-808
§ Hawkins, B. A., F. S. Albuquerque, M. B. Araújo, J. Beck, L. M. Bini, F. J. Cabrero-Sañudo, I. Castro-Parga, J. A. F. Diniz-Filho, D. Ferrer-Castán, R. Field, J. F. Gómez, J. Hortal, J. T. Kerr, I. J. Kitching, J. L. León-Cortés, J. M. Lobo, D. Montoya, J. C. Moreno, M. Á. Olalla-Tárraga, J. G. Pausas, H. Qian, C. Rahbek, M. Á. Rodríguez, N. J. Sanders, and P. Williams. 2007. A global evaluation of metabolic theory as an explanation for terrestrial species richness gradients. Ecology 88: 1877-1888
Hawkins, B. A., J. A. F. Diniz-Filho, L. M. Bini, M. B. Araújo, R. Field, J. Hortal, J. T. Kerr, C. Rahbek, M. Á. Rodríguez, and N. J. Sanders, and P. Williams. Metabolic theory and diversity gradients: where do we go from here? 2007 Ecology 88: 1898-1902
Larsen F.W., Bladt J., and Rahbek C. 2007. Improving the performance of indicator groups for the identification of important areas for conservation of species. Conservation Biology 21:731-740
Levinsky, I., Skov, F., Svenning, J., and Rahbek, C. 2007. Potential impacts of climate change on the distributions and diversity patterns of European mammals. Biodiversity and Conservation 16: 3803-3816
Pütz, K., Rahbek, C., Saurola, P., Pedersen, K.T., Juvaste, R., and Helbig, A. J. 2007. Satellite tracking of the migratory pathways of the first-year Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus departing from the breeding grounds of different subspecies. Vogelwelt 128: 141-148
Rahbek, C. Disease ecology - The silence of the Robins. Nature: 652-653 (paper also selected and released as an Advance Online article)
§¶ Rahbek, C., Gotelli, N.J., Colwell, R. K., Entsminger, G L., Rangel T.F.L.V.B. and Graves, G.R. 2007. Predicting continental-scale patterns of bird species richness with spatially explicit models. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences 274:165-174. (selected as Editors' Choice in Ecology in Science 2007, vol. 315:574: given the Smithsonian Institution's "2007 National Museum of Natural History Science Achievement Award")
Thorup, K, Tøttrup, A.P and Rahbek, C. 2007. Patterns of phenological changes in migratory birds. Oecologia 151: 697-703
Walther, B. A., Schaffer N., van Niekerk A., Thuiller W., Rahbek C., Chown S.L. Modelling the winter distribution of a rare and endangered migrant, the Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola. The Ibis 149: 701-714
Wisz, M. S., Walther, B. A., and C. Rahbek. 2007. Using potential distributions to explore determinants of Western Palaearctic migrant songbird species richness in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Biogeography 34:828-841
Published, 2006
Araujo M.B. and C. Rahbek. 2006. How does climate affect biodiversity. Science 313:1396-1397
Borregaard, M.K. and C. Rahbek. Prevalence of intraspecific relationships between range size and abundance in Danish birds. 2006. Diversity and Distribution 12: 417-422
Fjeldså, J. and Rahbek, C. 2006. Diversification of Tanagers, a species rich bird group, from lowlands to montane regions in South America. Integrative and Comparative Zoology. 46:72-81
** Huntley, B., Collingham, Y. C., Green, R. E., Rahbek, C. and Willis, S.G. 2006. Potential impacts of climatic change upon birds. The Ibis. 148: 8-28
Schäffer, N, Walther B. A., Gutteridge, K., and Rahbek, C. 2006. The African migration and wintering grounds of the Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola. Bird Conservation International 16: 33-56
Strange, N., Rahbek, C., Jepsen, J.K., Lund, M. P. 2006. Using farmland prices to evaluate cost-efficiency of national versus regional reserve selection in Denmark. Biological Conservation 128: 455-466
Thorup, K. and Rahbek, C. 2006. Rariteter: Værdien af usædvanlige fugleforekomster i moderne ornitologisk forskning. Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 100, 3-4
** Tøttrup, A.P., Thorup, K., and Rahbek, C. 2006a. Patterns of change in timing of spring migration in North European songbird populations. Journal of Avian Biology. 37:84-92
Tøttrup, A.P., Thorup, K., and Rahbek, C. 2006b. Changes in timing of autumn migration in North European songbird populations. Ardea. 94:527-536-92
Published, 2005
Colwell, R. K., Rahbek, C., and Gotelli, N. J. 2005. The Mid-Domain Effect: There's a baby in the bathwater. The American Naturalist. 166: E149-E154
Fjeldså, J. and Rahbek, C. 2005. Diversification of a speciose neotropical bird group lowlands to highlands. Integrative and Comparative Zoology 44: 553-533 (Congress abstract)
** Jetz,W., Rahbek, C., and Lichstein, J.W. 2005. Local and global approaches to spatial data analysis in ecology. Global Ecology and Biogeography 14:97-98
¶ Graves, G. R. and C. Rahbek. 2005. Source pool geometry and the assembly of continental avifaunas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 102: 7871-7876 (paper discussed exclusively in a "News & Views" article in Nature, 2005, vol. 436, pp. 635-636)
Larsen, F.W. and Rahbek, C. 2005. The influence of spatial grain size on the suitability of the higher-taxon approach in continental priority-setting. Animal Conservation 8: 389-396
** Rahbek, C. 2005. The role of spatial scale and the perception of large-scale species-richness patterns. Ecology Letters 8: 224-239
Romdal, T.S., Colwell, R.K. and Rahbek, C. 2005. The influence of band sum area, domain extent and range sizes on the latitudinal mid-domain effect. Ecology. 86: 235-244
Published, 2004
¶** Colwell, R. K., C. Rahbek, and N. J. Gotelli. 2004. The mid-domain effect and species richness patterns: what have we learned so far? The American Naturalist 163: E1-E23
§** Jetz, W., Rahbek, C, and R.K. Colwell. 2004. The coincidence of rarity and richness and the potential historical signature of centers of endemism. Ecology Letters 7: 1180-1191
Thorup, K. and Rahbek, C. 2004. How do geometric constraints influence migration patterns. Animal biodiversity and conservation. 27:319-329
Walther B.A., Wisz M.S., and Rahbek C. 2004. Known and predicted winter distributions and habitat use of the endangered Basra reed warbler (Acrocephalus griseldis) and the near-threatened cinereous bunting (Emberiza cineracea). Journal of Ornithology 145:287-299
Published, 2003
Larsen, F. W. and C. Rahbek. 2003. Influence of scale on conservation priority setting - a test on African mammals. Biodiversity & Conservation 12: 599-614
Moore, J. L., A. Balmford, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, L. A. Hansen, C. Rahbek, and P.Williams. 2003. The performance of sub-Saharan vertebrates as indicator groups for conservation priority setting. Conservation Biology 17: 207-218
Moore, J. L., M. Folkmann, A. Balmford, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, L., C. Rahbek, P. Williams, and J. Krarup. 2003. Heuristic and optimal solutions for set-covering problems in conservation biology. Ecography 26: 591-601
Williams, P.H., Moore, J.L., Brooks, T.M., Strand, H., D'Amico, J., Wisz, M., Burgess, N.D., Balmford, A & Rahbek, C. 2003. Integrating biodiversity priorities with conflicting socio-economic values in the Guinean-Congolian forest region. Biodiversity and Conservation 12: 1297-1320
Published, 2002
Burgess, N. D., C. Rahbek, P. Williams, F. W. Larsen, and A. Balmford. 2002. How much of the vertebrate diversity of sub-Saharan Africa is represented by recent conservation proposals? Biological Conservation 107: 327-339
** Jetz, W., and C. Rahbek. 2002. Geographic range size and determinants of avian species richness. Science 297: 1548-1551
Lund, M. P. and C. Rahbek. 2002. Cross-taxon congruence in complementarity and conservation of temperate biodiversity. Animal Conservation 5: 163-171
Moore, J. L., L. Manne, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, R. Davies, C. Rahbek, P.Williams, and A. Balmford. 2002. The distribution of cultural and biological diversity in Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences 269: 1645-1653
Rabøl, J., and C. Rahbek. 2002. Population trends in Baltic passerine migrants, elucidated by a combination of ringing data and point- and summer-count indices. Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 96: 15-38
Walther, B. A. and C. Rahbek. 2002. Where do Palaearctic migratory birds overwinter in Africa? Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 96: 4-8
Published, 2001
** Balmford, A., J. L. Moore, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, L. A. Hansen, P. Williams, and C. Rahbek. 2001. Conservation conflicts across Africa. Science 291: 2616-2619
Balmford, A., J. Moore, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, L. A. Hansen, J. C. Lovett, S. Tokumine, P. Williams, F. I. Woodward, and C. Rahbek. 2001. People and biodiversity in Africa. Science 293: 1591-1592
Brooks, T., A. Balmford, N. Burgess, J. Fjeldså, L. A. Hansen, J. Moore, C. Rahbek, and P. Williams. Toward a blueprint for conservation in Africa. 2001. BioScience 51: 613-624 (including frontcover)
Brooks, T., A. Balmford, N. Burgess, L. A. Hansen, J. L. Moore, C. Rahbek, P. Williams, L. Bennun, A. Byaruhanga, P. Kasoma, P. Njoroge, D. Pomeroy, and M. Wendaerash. 2001. Conservation priorities for birds and biodiversity: do East African Important Bird Areas represent species diversity in other terrestrial vertebrate groups? Ostrich Supplement 15: 3-12
** Jetz, W., and C. Rahbek. 2001. Geometric constraints explain much of the species richness pattern in African birds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 98: 5661-5666
Moore, J., A. Balmford, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, L. A. Hansen, P. Williams, and C. Rahbek. Complementarity Analyses Reveal Extent of Conservation Conflict in Africa. Science Online 21 November 2001
¶** Rahbek, C. and G. R. Graves. 2001. Multiscale assessment of patterns of avian species richness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 98: 4534-4539. (selected as Editor's Choice in Ecology in Science 2001, vol 292:399)
Published, 2000
Romdal, T. and C. Rahbek. 2001. Elevational zonation of bird communities in afrotropical forests. Ostrich Supplement 15: 130
Burgess, N. D., H. de Klerk, J. Fjeldså, T. M. Crowe, and C. Rahbek. 2000. A preliminary assessments of congruence between biodiversity patterns in Afrotropical forest mammals and forest birds. Ostrich 71: 286-291
da Fonseca, G., A. Balmford, C. Bibby, L. Boitani, F. Corsi, T. Brooks, C. Gascon, S. Olivieri, A. Mittermeier, N. Burgess, E. Dinerstein, D. Olson, L. Hannah, J. Lovett, R., D. Moyer, C. Rahbek, S. Stuart and P. Williams. 2000. Following Africa's lead in setting priorities. Nature 405:393-394
Rahbek, C., and G. R. Graves. 2000. Detection of macroecological patterns in South American hummingbirds is affected by spatial scale. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences 267: 2259-2265
Mace, G. M., A. Balmford, L Boitani, G. Cowlishaw, A. P. Dobson, D. P. Faith, K. J. Gaston, C. J. Humphries, R. I. Vane-Wright, P. H. Williams, J. H. Lawton, C. R. Murgules, R. M. May, A. O. Nicholls, H. P. Possingham, C. Rahbek, and A. S. van Jaarsveld. 2000. It's time to work together and stop duplicating conservation efforts Nature 205: 393
Williams, P. H., N. D. Burgess, and C. Rahbek. 2000. Assessing large 'flagship' species for representing the diversity of sub-Saharan mammals. Page 85-99 in A. Entwistle and N. Dunstone, editors. Has the Panda had its day? Future priorities for the conservation of mammalian biodiversity. Cambridge University Press
Williams, P. H., N. D. Burgess, and C. Rahbek. 2000. Flagship species, ecological complementarity and conserving the diversity of mammals and birds in Sub-Saharan Africa. Animal Conservation 3:249-260
Williams, P. H., N. D. Burgess, and C. Rahbek. 2000. Flagship species, ecological complementarity and conserving the diversity of mammals and birds in Sub-Saharan Africa (vol. 3, part 3, pg 258, 2000). Animal Conservation 3:365-365
Published, 1999
Fjeldså, J., N. Burgess, H. de Klerk, L. Hansen, and C. Rahbek. 1999. Are Endemic Bird Areas the best targets for conservation? An assessment using all landbirds distributions of two continents. In Adams, N and R. Slotow (eds). Proceedings of the 22nd International Ornithological Congress, BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg
Rahbek, C. and J. J. Madsen. 1999. Zoological Museum's Bird Ringing Center and ringing in Denmark in the 100-year anniversary for the invention of ringing. Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 93:195-205. (In Danish)
Published, 1998
Burgess, N. D., J. Fjeldså, and C. Rahbek. 1998. Mapping the distributions of Afrotropical vertebrate groups. Species 30:16-17
Fjeldså, J., and C. Rahbek. 1998-a. Continent-wide conservation priorities and diversification processes. Pages 139-160 In G. M. Mace, A. Balmford and J. R. Ginsberg, editors. Conservation in a changing world. Integrating processes into priorities for action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Fjeldså, J., and C. Rahbek. 1998-b. Priorities for conservation in Bolivia, illustrated by a continent-wide analysis of bird distributions. Pages 313-327 In W. Barthlott and M. Winiger, editors. Biodiversity - a challenge for development research and policy. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Book/Report › Report › Research
Research output: Book/Report › Report › Commissioned
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Carsten Rahbek (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution