Citation | Ian Newton is distinguished for his contributions to vertebrate ecology. His best known work is a twenty-year study of the population ecology of the sparrowhawk, one of very few detailed studies of a top predator and its food supplies. The sparrowhawk study has produced many results of fundamental ecological significance, including the demonstration that both year-to-year changes in numbers within an area and differences in density between areas are related to food supply. Detailed measurements of reproductive success, showing that a small proportion of adults produce more than half the offspring recruiting into the population each year, are of general significance in evolutionary biology. Newton is also well known for his early work on finches, which has become a classic in demonstrating how differences in morphology and behaviour are related to differences in feeding ecology. Throughout, Newton's work is characterised by clarity of thought and incisive analysis. His contributions to ornithology and ecology have been recognised by the following awards: Union Medal of the British Ornithologists' Union (1987); Gold Medal of the British Ecology Society (1989); Medal of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (1991). |