Dynamics of Recruitment-Subsidized Populations

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This investigation addresses the dynamics of recruitment- subsidized populations, i.e. populations in which the addition of new individuals is largely or completely uncoupled from local reproduction. This includes local populations of benthic organisms with planktonic larvae and species (many marine fish) in which stochastic variation renders stock-recruitment relations, if any, undetectable. The demography of such populations is most appropriately modelled by writing recruitment as a external "subsidy". The dynamics of the population are determined by the recruitment signal filtered through the post- recruitment life history. Dr. Caswell will investigate four models (density-independent demographic models, density-dependent demographic models, metapopulation models for coupled subpopulations, and multi-species community models) for subsidized populations. These models will provide fundamental theoretical insight into the dynamics of subsidized populations. The first two will also provide tools for empirical demographic analysis of such populations.