Ecological and evolutionary dynamics

自然生态系统最显著的特征之一是其物种的巨大多样性。这种多样性在不同的地点和时间会有所不同。不那么明显，但同样引人注目的是进化多样性：基因频率的时空变化。这种变化是如何产生和维护的？这些问题是基础生态学和进化研究的根本问题，也是生物多样性保护的基础。在基本层面上，我们知道答案：任何一种生物的丰度都取决于它的出生、死亡和在不同地点之间移动的速度（在更长的时间尺度上，像突变和物种形成这样的独特进化力量会起作用）。但是计算出细节是极其困难的，因为出生率、死亡率和迁移率在空间和时间上变化很大，并且取决于许多因素。

One of the most striking features of natural ecosystems is their great diversity of species. This diversity can vary among sites and over time. Less obvious, but equally striking, is evolutionary diversity: temporal and spatial variation in gene frequencies. How is this variation generated and maintained? These questions are of fundamental interest for basic ecological and evolutionary research, and also underpin the conservation of biodiversity. At a basic level, we know the answer: the abundance of any type of organism just depends on the rates at which it gives birth, dies, and moves between sites (and on longer timescales uniquely-evolutionary forces like mutation and speciation come into play). But working out the details is extremely difficult, since rates of birth, death, and movement can vary greatly in space and time and depend on many factors.