Multi-scale structure of ecological communities

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Variation partitioning, combined with multi-scale PCNM analysis, allows researchers to differentiate the resuls of the complementary processes of environmental control (niche-based) and community dynamics (neutral processes). My long-term research objective is to test hypotheses about these processes in ecosystems. This is of great importance because quantitative changes in beta diversity, or changes in its spatial organization, indicate natural or anthropogenic changes in ecosystems. During my career, I learned to combine community ecology and statistics, creating new numerical methods that proved to be of prime importance for the progress of community ecology. The new avenues that I will explore during the next 5-year cycle are described in the Proposal. That work can only be done by teams of statistically-inclined scientists who understand the primary ecological questions and are able to relate to researchers in statistics and computer sciences.