Title:  Modeling metapopulations with spatial structure and temporal dynamics

Speaker:  Yssa DeWoody, Purdue University

Time and place: 3:30pm on Apr. 10 at REC 121

Abstract: In ecology, a metapopulation refers to a spatially
structured population which consists of unstable subpopulations
inhabiting discrete habitat patches.  Levin's classic metapopulation
model has been criticized because it neglects a landscape's spatial
and temporal structure.  Although various extensions of this model
have focused on the inclusion of spatial structure
(e.g. metapopulation capacity) or temporal structure (e.g. habitat
suitability and average patch lifetime), few have studied these
effects in unison.  In an effort to combine both structures in an
analytically tractable model, we developed a spatially realistic patch
model within a dynamic landscape. In our model, a finite number of
patches can transition between uninhabitable, habitable, and occupied
states based on both landscape and metapopulation dynamics.
Persistence thresholds are derived which depend upon a species' life
history characters as well as the spatial and temporal structure of
the landscape.