Metapopulations in evolving landscapes

Phil Pollett

(Joint work with Jessica Chan and Ross McVinish, The University of Queensland)

Abstract: I will describe a model for populations that occupy several geographically separated patches of habitat, one which accounts for the evolution over time of landscape characteristics that affect the persistence of local populations. In particular, the probability of local extinction is allowed to evolve according to a Markov chain. This covers the widely studied case where patches are classified as being either suitable or unsuitable for occupancy. I will explain why, for large population networks, the persistence and equilibrium levels of the population are determined by the distribution of the life span of local populations, and not by the specific landscape dynamics.

Acknowledgement: This work is support by the ARC

The speaker:

Last modified: 20th June 2017