Jorge Miguel Ribeiro Pereira
Email: jorge.pereira@uc.pt | Twitter: @Jormipereira | Research Institute: CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology
CienciaVitae | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Scopus | WoS
I am a physical geographer and GIS expert with a strong focus on species distribution modelling and its applications in conservation and spatial planning.
My research primarily uses seabirds as indicators of global change, spanning topics such as at-sea behaviour, fisheries bycatch, climate change impacts, marine conservation, and animal tracking.
More recently, I’ve expanded my research to consider extreme climatic events, cross-ecosystem comparisons, integrative approaches across disciplines (e.g. oceanography and physiology), and regional/global-scale perspectives.
Background
2023 - 2029: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2022 - 2023: Contracted Researcher in the LIFE Ilhas Barreira project, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2022: PhD in Ecology, University of Coimbra (Portugal) and University of Exeter (UK)
2016: MSc in Geographic Information Technologies, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2014: BSc in Physical Geography, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
Research interests and key publications
Full details on my publication record can be found in (Google Scholar | ResearchGate)
-- Explore the role of intrinsic population characteristics on individuals' distribution
Pereira JM, et al (2024). Boldness predicts foraging behaviour, habitat use and chick growth in a central place marine predator. Oecologia
Pereira JM, et al (2022). Foraging costs drive within-colony spatial segregation in shearwaters from two contrasting environments in the North Atlantic Ocean. Oecologia
Krüger L, Pereira JM, et al (2019). Personality influences foraging of a seabird under contrasting environmental conditions. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Pereira JM, et al (2018). The devil is in the detail: small-scale sexual segregation despite large-scale spatial overlap in the wandering albatross. Marine Biology
-- Unravel the effects of environmental change on seabird life-history traits
Darby J..., Pereira JM, et al (2024). Strong winds reduce foraging success in albatrosses. Current Biology
Cerveira LR..., Pereira JM, et al (2020). Inter-annual changes in oceanic conditions drives spatial and trophic consistency of a tropical marine predator. Marine Environmental Research
Pereira JM, et al (2020). Facing extremes: Cory’s shearwaters adjust their foraging behaviour differently in response to contrasting phases of North Atlantic Oscillation. Regional Environmental Change
Krüger L, Pereira JM, et al (2018). How the future climate may modulate the non-breeding distribution of a Vulnerable gadfly petrel. Marine Ecology Progress Series
-- Predict the impacts of Human stressors on seabirds' behaviour
Pereira JM, et al (2025). Experimental anthropogenic food restrictions drive short-term foraging and immuno-haematological changes in sympatric breeding gulls. Science of Total Environment
Pereira JM, et al (2025). Seasonal variation in seabird abundance and bycatch at artisanal bottom-set net fisheries in the southern Iberian Atlantic coast. Ocean & Coastal Management
Clark BL..., Pereira JM, et al (2023). Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic seabirds. Nature Communications
Pereira JM, et al (2021). Low spatial overlap between foraging shearwaters during the breeding season and industrial fisheries off the west coast of Portugal. Marine Ecology Progress Series
-- Assist the development of conservation strategies and ecosystem-based approaches to marine spatial planning
De la Cruz A, Pereira JM, et al (2025). Global distribution, threats and population trends of the critically endangered Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. Biological Conservation
De la Cruz A, Pereira JM, et al (2023). Using long-term data series to design adequate protected areas that ensure the conservation of inconspicuous small petrel species. Journal of Applied Ecology
Pereira JM, et al (2023). Tracking marine megafauna for conservation and marine spatial planning. Frontiers in Marine Science
Pereira JM, et al (2022). Tracking seabirds for conservation and marine spatial planning. In Seabird Biodiversity and Human Activities. CRC Press
Lecturing
2025 - present: Bioinformatics, Bachelor's degree course in Biology, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2025 - present: Biodiversity Conservation and Management. Master's degree course, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2025 - present: Evolutionary Biogeography Modelling and Spatial Modelling. Master's degree course, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2023 - present: Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Modelling. Master's degree course, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
2024: Spatial Data Analysis in Ecology with R. Doctoral degree course, University of Cádiz (Spain)
Editorial board
Diversity (Guest editor in a thematic section on ecology, diversity and conservation of seabirds; 11 papers)
Frontiers in Marine Science (Guest editor in a thematic section on the use of biologging in marine megafauna to inform conservation and marine spatial planning; 34 papers)
Blog posts and media
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 2024: Extreme weather challenges albatrosses foraging success
Video abstract for Current Biology 34 (23), 2024: Video credit by Jamie Darby
Front cover for Journal of Applied Ecology 60 (12), 2023: Photo credit by Andrés de la Cruz
LIFE Ilhas Barreira website video (PT only), 2022: Seabirds from Ria Formosa
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 2020: Cory's Shearwaters vary their foraging patterns in relation to the North Atlantic Oscillation
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 2020: Cape Verde Shearwaters (and other seabirds): how are they doing on Cabo Verde?
Lusa, 2019: Investigadores de Coimbra ajudam a salvar aves marinhas ameaçadas em Cabo Verde (PT only)
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 2019: Bold or shy? Individual Cory’s Shearwaters exhibit differences in foraging behaviour related to their personalities
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 2018: Differences in foraging strategy between the sexes in Wandering Albatrosses
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 2018: ACAP-listed Balearic Shearwaters help choose Portuguese MPAs
Massive Science, 2017: Want to know where hard-to-find squid live? Ask their predators
Oceanbites, 2017: Using seabirds to study squid
