Thursday Sept 29, 12:10-1 in Williams 320
How does evolution shape the dispersal (movement) strategies of organisms?
The questions “Why, and how, do animals disperse?” have been explored mathematically for over 35 years. These questions continue to foster active research in ecology and evolution because we must identify the mechanisms that shape an organism’s decision to disperse in order to be able to explain the spatial and temporal patterns in natural animal populations. In this talk, we will begin with a brief overview of known results from mathematical models used to study dispersal. Then, we will introduce and explain how a differential equations model can be studied to learn about the evolution of dispersal strategies. Finally, we will illustrate some of the mathematical techniques we used to prove the evolutionary stability of dispersal strategies. Knowledge of calculus will be helpful, but no background in ecology or evolution is assumed.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20160926224408517