Spatial Dynamics and Fluctuations at Population Margins

人们对将明确的空间结构纳入生态模型越来越感兴趣。本研究将探讨空间结构对其范围边缘和边界种群动态的影响。研究人员将利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缘发展的空间格局，以及这些格局在边缘扩大或缩小时是如何变化的。他们将研究在一个维度上的种群范围（如沿着河流或海岸线）与在相同环境梯度下的二维种群的范围有何不同。研究人员还将研究生物因素，例如病原体，对边缘种群的影响，以及边缘是否可以作为宿主避难所。该项目的目标是增加对人口边缘动态的一般了解，并促进和指导对这种边缘的详细研究。在过去十年中，制图、遥感和计算技术的迅速进步极大地促进了人口的空间分析。人口边缘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.