About

Jeffrey W. Matthews is an Associate Professor and plant ecologist who focuses on understanding the drivers of change in ecological communities. He employs field experiments and observational studies of plant communities in both natural and restored ecosystems. His research aims to apply this understanding to address challenges in ecological restoration, contributing to the advancement of restoration science and practice.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Computer Science
• Geography
• Artificial Intelligence
• Economics
• Agroforestry
• Business
• Natural resource economics
• Environmental planning
• Environmental science
• Cartography
• Environmental resource management
• Biology
• Remote sensing

Selected publications

• Comparing diversity-carbon tradeoffs between passive and active reforestation at a long-term floodplain experiment

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-03-31

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Patterns of ecological conservatism in regional plant species pools

  Biodiversity and Conservation · 2026-05-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Ecological conservatism is a concept used to characterize a plant species’ fidelity to high-quality natural areas and sensitivity to human impacts. Ecological conservatism is estimated using coefficients of conservatism (C-values), expert-assigned integers that reflect a species’ sensitivity to human impacts. Hotspots of biodiversity—regionally distinct concentrations of biodiversity—have been described in previous studies, and there may be analogous clusters of plant species with greater conservatism resulting from natural biogeographical patterns and human disturbance history. Information on regional variation in plant conservation would highlight floristically unique regions of high conservation value and complement traditional measures of biodiversity. We calculated the mean C-value of county floras (county-C) by using county-level species occurrence data across six Midwestern U.S. states. Our objectives were to: (1) map county-C, (2) determine whether county-C was related to county species richness, and (3) assess how variables reflecting geography and land use history were associated with county-C. Across all six states, counties with the highest county-C were geographically clustered, suggesting hotspots of ecologically sensitive species. Besides Missouri, the highest values were found in the northern parts of the states. Species richness was positively associated with county-C in all states. Across all states, we found an inverse relationship between species’ C-values and the number of counties they occurred in, suggesting that conservatism is associated with limited distributions. Latitude was the strongest predictor of county-C. Natural and agricultural land cover were also strongly associated with county-C; natural cover was positively associated whereas agricultural cover was negatively associated with county-C. Conservative species tend to be geographically concentrated, which could be due to a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors.

  PublisherDOI

• Comparing diversity-carbon tradeoffs between passive and active reforestation at a long-term floodplain experiment

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-03-31

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Comparing diversity-carbon tradeoffs between passive and active reforestation at a long-term floodplain experiment

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A National Policy with Local Consequences: Quantifying the Downstream Effects Of Sackett on Illinois Wetlands and Communities

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Influence of Light Availability and Water Depth on Competition Between Phalaris Arundinacea and Herbaceous Vines

  Wetlands · 2025-02-01 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A Null Model Approach to Test the Validity and Efficacy of Wetland indicator Status Values

  Wetlands · 2025-07-29

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Wetland indicator status values (WIVs) are ratings that reflect a plant species’ affinity for wetlands and are used as core tools for wetland delineation. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of WIVs using 587 wetland and 646 non-wetland plots from an Illinois wetland delineation database. If WIVs captured meaningful information about plant assemblages and affinity for wetlands, we would expect that species’ WIVs would correlate to the mean weighted average WIVs of their co-occurring species across multiple sites (i.e., the mean prevalence index [PI] of co-occurring species, $$\:\stackrel{-}{\text{P}\text{I}}$$ i ). Similarly, when WIVs are used in the PI to classify vegetation as either non-hydrophytic or hydrophytic, these classifications should correspond to wetland designations that are more sensitive and specific than expected by chance. Using data from 1,233 plots in Illinois (USA), we tested these predictions by comparing observed PI and $$\:\stackrel{-}{\text{P}\text{I}}$$ i to those generated under a null model based on randomized WIVs. We also related species’ WIVs to their frequency of occurrence in wetlands and estimated whether certain types of species (life history, woodiness, prior WIV revision, and nativity) had less accurate WIVs based on the co-occurrence data. Species’ WIVs were much more strongly correlated to the $$\:\stackrel{-}{\text{P}\text{I}}$$ i than would be expected under the null model. However, some species, particularly short-lived plants, had less accurate WIVs based on their co-occurrence characteristics; no effect was detected for the other three species type comparisons. Using WIVs to determine hydrophytic status led to highly sensitive (99%) and somewhat specific (66%) correspondence to actual wetland status; sensitivity was far greater than null expectations, whereas specificity was only marginally greater. As expected, species’ frequency of occurrence in wetlands declined with increasing WIV. Obligate wetland and upland (non-wetland) species typically occurred in wetland and non-wetland plots, respectively; facultative wetland and facultative species had greater variability and inconsistent presence in wetlands. WIVs outperformed null expectations, validating their application. Although WIVs are expert-based, future efforts could apply vegetation data to test and improve species’ WIV assignments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Illinois Department of Transportation’s Seeding Standards and Best Management Practices

  2025-05-01

  reportSenior author

  To provide evidence-based revisions to Section 250 of the Illinois Department of Transportation roadside specifications manual, we conducted a literature review, an experimental planting, and a survey of previously planted roadsides. We created newly designed native seed mixes and field tested these mixes in comparison with existing IDOT mixes. After one year of growth in lawn, roadside, and slope areas, we found overall positive effects on native species cover using the newly designed native mixes. We surveyed 34 native species plantings along roadsides in Indiana and Illinois and evaluated several variables to determine which factors led to long-term establishment, finding cover by seeded native species and native species overall increased with distance from road and decreased with increasing soil nitrate and phosphorous. We further found that number of native species and seeded native species increased with distance from road and greater seed mix diversity, whereas richness of non-native, non-seeded species was greater at shorter distances from the road. Across all sites, 84 of the 150 native species seeded at sites were never observed in our surveys, but 28 native species were observed at more than half of the sites in which they were seeded. Our results suggest native plantings can persist on roadsides for several years after planting, but that specific site-level factors increase the likelihood of long-term success.

  PublisherDOI

• RELIX: A Dataset of Vascular Plant Species Presence for 353 Prairie Remnants in the Midwestern United States, with Prairie Remnant Metadata

  Natural Areas Journal · 2025-07-07

  articleSenior author

  Scientists have studied prairie remnants for decades to understand and conserve them. However, plant species data for these remnants are scattered across a variety of resources—often inaccessible without asking habitat managers. RELIX is a data set of nearly 37,000 vascular plant species records from 353 prairie remnants in eight states in the midwestern United States, overlapping with the core historical extent of the tallgrass prairie. Species lists were collated from a variety of recent (post-2020) and historical sources, including academic publications, managers' species lists, and floristic quality surveys. Remnant species lists are complemented with metadata for each remnant, including site location, environmental and ecological information, and characteristics about the data source. As a demonstration of the utility of data, and to advance knowledge about prairie remnants, we characterized prairie remnants using three common metrics: plant species richness, indicator species, and most frequent species. We found that well-sampled prairie remnants in RELIX typically had 100–250 species. The three most frequent species were the C4 grasses Andropogon gerardii, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans, followed by the forbs Euphorbia corollata and Rudbeckia hirta. We identified indicator species for dry and wet prairies, and for those with sandy soils. Based on these data, we list 915 species that occurred in at least eight prairie remnants in the tallgrass prairie region. We invite researchers and managers to build on these data to advance research in prairie conservation and management. The data can be accessed at the Illinois Data Bank: https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-5653911_V1.

  PublisherDOI

• A national policy with local consequences: Quantifying the downstream effects of Sackett on Illinois wetlands and communities

  Journal of Environmental Management · 2025-08-11

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The 2023 Sackett v. EPA US Supreme Court ruling narrowed Clean Water Act (CWA) protection for wetlands by requiring a “continuous surface connection” to “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). As most states have limited or no legal wetland protections beyond the CWA, the ruling has left millions of US wetlands, with $11.2–$67.0 billion in flood-control benefits, vulnerable to impacts. To assess the ruling's implications for Illinois, we integrated geospatial datasets to identify state wetlands that could be federally non-jurisdictional (non-WOTUS) across 96 policy scenarios with different requirements for wetland spatial and temporal connectivity to relatively permanent waters (RPWs). Although agency requirements for wetland flood frequency were the largest source of policy uncertainty, we estimated that up to 286,342 ha (72.1 %) of remaining state wetland area could be non-WOTUS if wetlands must have at least seasonal flooding for CWA protection. Despite predicting that up to 227,642 ha (79.5 %) of non-WOTUS area is unprotected, we estimated that more non-WOTUS area is protected than previous studies by accounting for county-level regulations. By further evaluating the relationship between unprotected wetland area and risk of climate-driven natural disasters, we found that county-level regulations limit the potential for wetland losses to increase 30-year flood risk in northeastern Illinois. Outside this region, unprotected wetland area has a strong positive correlation with property share at risk of flooding in 30 years and with expected losses in population and building value. Thus, enhancing protections for wetlands that are intermittently dry or geographically isolated from WOTUS could increase the resilience of lower elevation and latitude floodplain communities to climate change. • Over half of Illinois wetlands could lack protection following the Sackett ruling. • Most vulnerable wetland area is forested and concentrated at southern latitudes. • Wetland losses could exacerbate multiple climate risks in floodplain communities. • Accounting for county-level regulations increases protected wetland area estimates. • Local ordinances can enhance climate resilience by limiting wetland conversion.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Greg Spyreas

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  41 shared

• Jack Zinnen

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  36 shared

• Kenneth R. Olson

  Indiana University School of Medicine

  36 shared

• J. Sloan

  University College Dublin

  36 shared

• Geoffrey E. Pociask

  Illinois Archaeological Survey

  34 shared

• Anton G. Endress

  31 shared

• Angela D. Kent

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  30 shared

• Ariane L. Peralta

  East Carolina University

  22 shared

Labs

• Matthews LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2008