Spatial Dynamics and Fluctuations at Population Margins

越来越多的人对将显性空间结构纳入生态模型感兴趣。这项研究将调查空间结构对其范围边缘和边界的种群动态的影响。研究人员将使用理论物理的方法开发分析和数值方法。他们将研究在不同类型的人口边际发展的空间模式，以及当人口边际扩大或下降时，这些模式是如何变化的。他们将研究一维(如沿溪流或海岸线)的种群范围与相同环境梯度中的二维种群的范围可能有何不同。研究人员还将研究生物因素，如病原体，对边缘种群的影响，以及边缘是否可以作为宿主避难所。这个项目的目标是增加对种群边缘动态的总体了解，并刺激和指导对这种边缘的详细研究。在过去的十年里，由于测绘、遥感和计算技术的快速进步，人口的空间分析得到了极大的便利。人口边际空间结构的坚实理论基础是解释这类数据的重要指南。

There has been an increasing interest in incorporating explicit spatial structure into ecological models. This research will investigate the effect of spatial structure on the dynamics of populations at the edges and borders of their ranges. The investigators will develop analytic and numerical approaches using methods from theoretical physics. They will study the spatial patterns that develop at different types of population margins, and how these patterns change when margins are either expanding or retreating. They will investigate how the range of a population in one dimension (as along a stream or a coastline) might differ from that of a two-dimensional population in an identical environmental gradient. The investigators will also study the effect of biotic factors, e.g. pathogens, on marginal populations, and whether margins can act as host refugia.The goal of this project is to increase general understanding of the dynamics of population margins, as well as to stimulate and direct the detailed study of such margins. In the past decade, the spatial analysis of populations has been greatly facilitated by rapid technical advances in mapping, remote sensing, and computation. A strong theoretical basis for the spatial structure of population margins is an essential guide for the interpretation of such data.