Robert K. Colwell

55.0k total citations · 22 hit papers
136 papers, 37.2k citations indexed

About

Robert K. Colwell is a scholar working on Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and Ecological Modeling. According to data from OpenAlex, Robert K. Colwell has authored 136 papers receiving a total of 37.2k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 68 papers in Nature and Landscape Conservation, 61 papers in Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and 50 papers in Ecological Modeling. Recurrent topics in Robert K. Colwell's work include Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies (67 papers), Plant and animal studies (51 papers) and Species Distribution and Climate Change (50 papers). Robert K. Colwell is often cited by papers focused on Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies (67 papers), Plant and animal studies (51 papers) and Species Distribution and Climate Change (50 papers). Robert K. Colwell collaborates with scholars based in United States, Taiwan and Denmark. Robert K. Colwell's co-authors include Nicholas J. Gotelli, Jonathan A. Coddington, Anne Chao, John T. Longino, Robin L. Chazdon, Douglas J. Futuyma, Chang Xuan Mao, Carsten Rahbek, Tsung‐Jen Shen and Jing Chang and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In The Last Decade

Robert K. Colwell

131 papers receiving 34.8k citations

Hit Papers

Quantifying biodiversity: procedures a... 1971 2026 1989 2007 2001 1994 2013 2006 2004 1000 2.0k 3.0k 4.0k 5.0k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness
    2001 5.1k citations Nicholas J. Gotelli, Robert K. Colwell profile →
  2. Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation
    1994 3.7k citations Robert K. Colwell et al. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences profile →
  3. Rarefaction and extrapolation with Hill numbers: a framework for sampling and estimation in species diversity studies
    2013 2.8k citations Anne Chao, Nicholas J. Gotelli et al. Ecological Monographs profile →
  4. Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the map
    2006 2.2k citations Jennifer B. H. Martiny, Brendan J. M. Bohannan et al. Nature Reviews Microbiology profile →
  5. A new statistical approach for assessing similarity of species composition with incidence and abundance data
    2004 1.6k citations Anne Chao, Robin L. Chazdon et al. profile →
  6. Models and estimators linking individual-based and sample-based rarefaction, extrapolation and comparison of assemblages
    2012 1.5k citations Robert K. Colwell, Anne Chao et al. Journal of Plant Ecology profile →
  7. INTERPOLATING, EXTRAPOLATING, AND COMPARING INCIDENCE-BASED SPECIES ACCUMULATION CURVES
    2004 1.5k citations Robert K. Colwell et al. profile →
  8. On the Measurement of Niche Breadth and Overlap
    1971 1.3k citations Robert K. Colwell et al. profile →
  9. Global Warming, Elevational Range Shifts, and Lowland Biotic Attrition in the Wet Tropics
    2008 968 citations Robert K. Colwell, Gunnar Brehm et al. Science profile →
  10. Thermal-safety margins and the necessity of thermoregulatory behavior across latitude and elevation
    2014 930 citations Robert K. Colwell, John T. Longino et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences profile →
  11. The mid-domain effect: geometric constraints on the geography of species richness
    2000 873 citations Robert K. Colwell et al. profile →
  12. Humboldt’s enigma: What causes global patterns of mountain biodiversity?
    2019 624 citations Carsten Rahbek, Robert K. Colwell et al. Science profile →
  13. Terrestrial Arthropod Assemblages: Their Use in Conservation Planning
    1993 621 citations Robert K. Colwell et al. profile →
  14. Nonbiological Gradients in Species Richness and a Spurious Rapoport Effect
    1994 552 citations Robert K. Colwell et al. The American Naturalist profile →
  15. Hutchinson's duality: The once and future niche
    2009 519 citations Robert K. Colwell, Thiago F. Rangel Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences profile →
  16. THE ANT FAUNA OF A TROPICAL RAIN FOREST: ESTIMATING SPECIES RICHNESS THREE DIFFERENT WAYS
    2002 505 citations John T. Longino, Robert K. Colwell et al. profile →
  17. Building mountain biodiversity: Geological and evolutionary processes
    2019 484 citations Carsten Rahbek, Robert K. Colwell et al. Science profile →
  18. Predictability, Constancy, and Contingency of Periodic Phenomena
    1974 470 citations Robert K. Colwell profile →
  19. The Planned Introduction of Genetically Engineered Organisms: Ecological Considerations and Recommendations
    1989 445 citations Robert K. Colwell et al. profile →
  20. Community Organization Among Neotropical Nectar-Feeding Birds
    1978 365 citations Peter Feinsinger, Robert K. Colwell profile →
  21. Modeling the ecology and evolution of biodiversity: Biogeographical cradles, museums, and graves
    2018 269 citations Thiago F. Rangel, Marco Túlio Pacheco Coelho et al. Science profile →
  22. Quantifying sample completeness and comparing diversities among assemblages
    2020 209 citations Anne Chao, Yasuhiro Kubota et al. Ecological Research profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
Robert K. Colwell United States 66 16.5k 15.7k 13.2k 9.3k 6.2k 136 37.2k
Nicholas J. Gotelli United States 71 12.8k 0.8× 13.9k 0.9× 11.7k 0.9× 6.7k 0.7× 5.2k 0.8× 222 29.4k
Robert D. Holt United States 96 21.2k 1.3× 17.1k 1.1× 15.0k 1.1× 7.3k 0.8× 7.4k 1.2× 300 45.3k
Anne E. Magurran United Kingdom 74 14.7k 0.9× 15.3k 1.0× 13.0k 1.0× 4.3k 0.5× 8.1k 1.3× 241 34.9k
Daniel Simberloff United States 102 25.7k 1.6× 22.1k 1.4× 14.9k 1.1× 7.0k 0.8× 10.7k 1.7× 382 52.5k
Robert E. Ricklefs United States 106 22.4k 1.4× 14.8k 0.9× 19.9k 1.5× 6.5k 0.7× 5.0k 0.8× 496 43.1k
Stephen P. Hubbell United States 90 9.9k 0.6× 21.9k 1.4× 13.5k 1.0× 5.6k 0.6× 8.5k 1.4× 208 33.8k
Michel Loreau France 88 20.9k 1.3× 24.6k 1.6× 14.5k 1.1× 5.7k 0.6× 14.2k 2.3× 289 49.5k
Tim M. Blackburn United Kingdom 83 17.0k 1.0× 12.7k 0.8× 9.5k 0.7× 8.3k 0.9× 5.0k 0.8× 293 29.0k
Jonathan M. Chase United States 68 14.0k 0.9× 13.3k 0.8× 8.5k 0.6× 5.2k 0.6× 4.5k 0.7× 192 26.9k
Chris D. Thomas United Kingdom 91 15.8k 1.0× 19.0k 1.2× 16.4k 1.2× 19.4k 2.1× 8.3k 1.3× 297 40.7k

Countries citing papers authored by Robert K. Colwell

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Robert K. Colwell's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Robert K. Colwell with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Robert K. Colwell more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Robert K. Colwell

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Robert K. Colwell. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Robert K. Colwell. The network helps show where Robert K. Colwell may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Robert K. Colwell

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Robert K. Colwell. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Robert K. Colwell based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Robert K. Colwell. Robert K. Colwell is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Coelho, Marco Túlio Pacheco, et al.. (2025). In Situ Speciation of Dispersal‐Limited Taxa Leads to Strong Phylogenetic Community Clustering. Journal of Biogeography. 52(9).
2.
Colwell, Robert K. & Kenneth J. Feeley. (2024). Still little evidence of poleward range shifts in the tropics, but lowland biotic attrition may be underway. Biotropica. 57(1). 10 indexed citations
3.
Menegotto, André, Derek P. Tittensor, Robert K. Colwell, & Thiago F. Rangel. (2024). Sampling Simulation in a Virtual Ocean Reveals Strong Sampling Effect in Marine Diversity Patterns. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 34(1). 1 indexed citations
4.
Chao, Anne, Simon Thorn, Chun‐Huo Chiu, et al.. (2023). Rarefaction and extrapolation with beta diversity under a framework of Hill numbers: The iNEXT.beta3D standardization. Ecological Monographs. 93(4). 29 indexed citations
5.
Chazdon, Robin L., Natalia Norden, Robert K. Colwell, & Anne Chao. (2022). Monitoring recovery of tree diversity during tropical forest restoration: lessons from long-term trajectories of natural regeneration. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences. 378(1867). 20210069–20210069. 25 indexed citations
6.
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y., Claire Bowern, Robert K. Colwell, et al.. (2021). Language and ethnobiological skills decline precipitously in Papua New Guinea, the world’s most linguistically diverse nation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118(22). 20 indexed citations
7.
Chao, Anne, Yasuhiro Kubota, David Zelený, et al.. (2020). Quantifying sample completeness and comparing diversities among assemblages. Ecological Research. 35(2). 292–314. 209 indexed citations breakdown →
8.
Chen, I‐Ching, et al.. (2018). Response to Qian et al. (2017): Daily and seasonal climate variations are both critical in the evolution of species’ elevational range size. Journal of Biogeography. 45(12). 2832–2836. 1 indexed citations
9.
Brehm, Gunnar, Dirk Zeuss, & Robert K. Colwell. (2018). Moth body size increases with elevation along a complete tropical elevational gradient for two hyperdiverse clades. Ecography. 42(4). 632–642. 52 indexed citations
10.
Chao, Anne & Robert K. Colwell. (2017). Thirty years of progeny from Chao’s inequality: Estimating and comparing richness with incidence data and incomplete sampling. Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). 1(1). 3–54. 48 indexed citations
11.
Wu, Yongjie, Robert K. Colwell, Naijian Han, et al.. (2014). Understanding historical and current patterns of species richness of babblers along a 5000‐m subtropical elevational gradient. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 23(11). 1167–1176. 39 indexed citations
12.
Chao, Anne, Nicholas J. Gotelli, T. C. Hsieh, et al.. (2013). Rarefaction and extrapolation with Hill numbers: a framework for sampling and estimation in species diversity studies. Ecological Monographs. 84(1). 45–67. 2769 indexed citations breakdown →
13.
Colwell, Robert K., et al.. (2012). Models and estimators linking individual-based and sample-based rarefaction, extrapolation and comparison of assemblages. Journal of Plant Ecology. 5(1). 3–21. 1502 indexed citations breakdown →
14.
Martiny, Jennifer B. H., Brendan J. M. Bohannan, James H. Brown, et al.. (2006). Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the map. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 4(2). 102–112. 2185 indexed citations breakdown →
15.
Rahbek, Carsten, et al.. (2006). Predicting continental-scale patterns of bird species richness with spatially explicit models. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences. 274(1607). 165–174. 268 indexed citations
16.
Koh, Lian Pin, Robert R. Dunn, Navjot S. Sodhi, et al.. (2004). Species Coextinctions and the Biodiversity Crisis. Science. 305(5690). 1632–1634. 413 indexed citations
17.
Colwell, Robert K., et al.. (1998). Systematics and host plant affiliations of hummingbird flower mites of the Genera Tropicoseius Baker & Yunker and Rhinoseius Baker & Yunker (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ascidae). 21 indexed citations
18.
OConnor, Barry M., Robert K. Colwell, & Shahid Naeem. (1991). Flower mites of Trinidad II. The genus Proctolaelaps (Acari: Ascidae). The Great Basin naturalist. 51(4). 9. 15 indexed citations
19.
Feinsinger, Peter, Robert K. Colwell, John Terborgh, & Susan B. Chaplin. (1979). Elevation and the Morphology, Flight Energetics, and Foraging Ecology of Tropical Hummingbirds. The American Naturalist. 113(4). 481–497. 101 indexed citations
20.
Colwell, Robert K.. (1973). Competition and Coexistence in a Simple Tropical Community. The American Naturalist. 107(958). 737–760. 132 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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