Metapopulation Biology

A course in the Biological Interactions Graduate School;

Intermediate/Advanced undergraduate course EKOL3121 (1 ov)

Much of the classic ecological theory focuses on processes within populations, often assuming that each population is effectively isolated. In contrast, metapopulation biology considers the interactions between local populations, which often prove to be vital for the population dynamics, evolution, and conservation of species and of communities. This course gives a theoretical overview of metapopulation ecology and evolution in metapopulations. For example, may a species be viable if each and every local population is eventually doomed to go extinct? How does dispersal between local populations affect population dynamics? Dispersal is costly - why disperse at all? What are the consequences of habitat loss? Shall we get advance warning before extinction of species or collapse of communities? What determines the range of a species? Do different local environments facilitate speciation via specialisation? The aim of the course is to discuss some basics of metapopulation biology and then provide insight into some of the "hot topics" of current research, bridging the gap by heuristic insight into the workings of models.

The course consists of 11 lectures (22 hours in total) and will be given in an intense form between 8 and 12 December 2003.

Place: Genetics seminar room, Luonnontieteiden talo II, 4th floor, room #401

Time schedule:
note: On Monday, we start at 12:15. Exact starts/breaks as well as the time of the exam will be discussed on Monday.

 

9-11

12-14

14-16

8 December (Monday)

 

X

X

9 December (Tuesday)

 

X

X

10 December (Wednesday)

X

X

X

11 December (Thursday)

 

X

X

12 December (Friday)

X

X

 

Contact: Eva Kisdi (Department of Mathematics, room 451)
Office hour: Wednesday 15-16 (but welcome any time), phone: 333 5686, e-mail address: eva.kisdi@utu.fi

EXAM: 12 January 2004 (Monday) 9-11, Mathematics Seminar Room 1 (Luonnontieteiden talo II, 4th floor, room #446)
The exam consists of a written test; notes, books, etc may be used but may not be shared during the exam.

Program

1. Metapopulation Ecology

Introduction

The metapopulation concept - The case study of Melitaea cinxia - Causes of population extinction - Colonisation - How to simplify spatial complexity: Spatially implicit, explicit, and realistic models

Stochastic patch occupancy models

The Levins metapopulation - Mainland-island systems - Habitat loss and metapopulation viability - Finite metapopulations - The spatially realistic Levins-model - Allee-effect, rescue effect, and the IFM - Alternative equilibria - Extinction debt

Coexistence in metapopulations: The competition-colonisation trade-off

Complex population dynamics in metapopulations

Stability and synchrony - Two populations coupled by dispersal - Coupled map lattices - Supertransients - Stabilisation by density-dependent dispersal

2. Evolution in Metapopulations

The evolution of dispersal. I. Stochastic environments

Escape from crowding: A simple model with saturated populations and catastrophes - Structured metapopulations - Evolutionary suicide - Source-sink systems and coexistence of different dispersal strategies - Risk spreading in case of global density regulation

The evolution of dispersal. II. Kin competition

Dispersal as an altruistic act - The Hamilton-May model - Adding catastrophes - Finite fecundity and stochastic modelling - The effect of local population size

Dispersal versus dormancy as alternative adaptations to environmental uncertainties

Adaptation to local environments

Empirical evidence: Why the conflicting results - The evolution of ecological specialisation - Niche conservatism

Selected References