Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Ecology

Ongoing changes in the global climate have pushed into prominence the study of complex natural systems, as tools for addressing issues related to, among others, the biodiversity crisis, large-scale desertification, and biosphere-climate feedbacks. These studies typically consider very different processes, for instance, linking algal growth to carbon fluxes and nutrient availability within the atmosphere and oceans. To understand the functioning and dynamics of such multi-scale ecosystems, natural communities and the climate, explicit modeling of the interplay of physical and biological processes, both in space and time, is essential.

The first steps toward a spatial theory for natural systems has greatly benefited from interactions between biology, mathematics, and physics. Our current understanding of spatial self-organization in ecosystems itself sprung from the pivotal work of mathematicians and physicists, such as Turing's mathematical study of the onset of pattern formation. Additionally, insights from dynamical systems theory shed light on the complex, possibly chaotic, behavior within foodwebs. Concurrently, ecological phenomena and studies have been inspiring the development of novel mathematical methods, as well as mathematical education and conceptualization, for over a century.

Despite the importance of such multidisciplinary interactions, direct collaborations between ecologists, mathematicians and physicists remain limited. This is in part due to differences in educational background and scientific culture. Our plan is to bring together participants from representative cross-sections of ecology, (applied) mathematics and physics that specialize in theoretical, computational and data-driven investigations of spatial processes in ecosystems, populations and the climate.

The workshop will present key speakers that have bridged diverse fields by introducing concepts and techniques from mathematics/physics into ecology or vice versa. In that way, interfaces between mathematics, physics, and ecology will be set as focal points of the proposed workshop.

The workshop will address a number of fields where the interaction between ecology, mathematics and physics has proved particularly fruitful.

•           Spatial patterns and other forms of spatial organization from the interaction of organisms with the physical world.

•           Effects of spatio-temporal complexity on the dynamics of natural communities.

•           How does individual behavior translates to the population continuum, with emphasis on movement.

In all topics, we will explicitly account for the interplay between internally generated and externally imposed complexity, addressing chaotic dynamics, regime shifts, and noise as an overwhelming factor in mathematical dynamics. Data assimilation, that is, the integration of empirical data into mathematical theory, represents another lateral theme.

Ongoing changes in the global climate have pushed into prominence the study of complex natural systems, as tools for addressing issues related to, among others, the biodiversity crisis, large-scale desertification, and biosphere-climate feedbacks. These studies typically consider very different processes, for instance, linking algal growth to carbon fluxes and nutrient availability within the atmosphere and oceans. To understand the functioning and dynamics of such multi-scale ecosystems, natural communities and the climate, explicit modeling of the interplay of physical and biological processes, both in space and time, is essential.

 The first steps toward a spatial theory for natural systems has greatly benefited from interactions between biology, mathematics, and physics. Our current understanding of spatial self-organization in ecosystems itself sprung from the pivotal work of mathematicians and physicists, such as Turing's mathematical study of the onset of pattern formation. Additionally, insights from dynamical systems theory shed light on the complex, possibly chaotic, behavior within food webs. Concurrently, ecological phenomena and studies have been inspiring the development of novel mathematical methods, as well as mathematical education and conceptualization, for over a century.

Despite the importance of such multidisciplinary interactions, direct collaborations between ecologists, (applied) mathematicians and physicists remain limited. This workshop brings together participants from representative cross-sections of these disciplines that specialize in theoretical, computational and data-driven investigations of spatial processes in ecosystems, populations and the climate. In that way, interfaces between mathematics, physics, and ecology are set as important focus of the discussion.  The workshop addresses a number of fields where multidisciplinary interaction has proved particularly fruitful.

•           Spatial patterns and other forms of spatial organization emerging from the interaction of organisms with the physical world.

•           Effects of spatio-temporal complexity on the dynamics of natural communities.

•           The translation of individual behavior to the population continuum, with emphasis on movement.

The workshop will present key speakers that have bridged diverse fields by introducing concepts and techniques from mathematics/physics into ecology or vice versa. In all topics, the interplay between internally generated and externally imposed complexity will be explicitly accounted for by addressing chaotic dynamics, regime shifts, and noise. Data assimilation, that is, the integration of empirical data and theory, represents another lateral theme.