Spyros Sfendourakis

Biography

I received my Degree in Biology at the University of Athens (1988) and my PhD at the same Department (1994). From 1996 to 2001, I worked as Research Assistant at the Zoological Museum of the Univ. of Athens.In 2001 I was elected as a Lecturer (Ecology of Terrestrial Animals) at the University of Patras (Dept. of Biology), and as an Assistant Professor (Ecology and Biogeography of Terrestrial Animals) in 2006.In January 2012 I started working as an Associate Professor (Ecology and Biodiversity) at the University of Cyprus (Dept. of Biological Sciences).

Research Interest

My research interests lie in the field of biodiversity pattern analysis, with emphasis on terrestrial arthropod communities. More specifically, I am interested in the effects of climate change on species and communities exploiting habitats vulnerable to such change, such as riparian, elevated forests and (sub)alpine habitats. My research so far has mainly focused on island biogeography, at both the theoretical and the empirical levels, exploring factors that determine or affect diversity in insular biota. I also explore the differentiation of arthropod taxa in insular regions, particularly in the Aegean archipelago and in semi-isolated habitats of continental Greece, at both the phenotypical and the molecular levels. Furthermore, I am an expert in the taxonomy of terresrtial isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) and have described some 20 species new to science.Another line of my research includes the exploration of arthropod communities exploiting different habitat types, as well as their responses to fire. A part of my work has been on the reproductive and migratory behaviour of certain bird species, such as Falco eleonorae and Calonectris diomedea.