Course description: This course entails a quantitative treatment of the central concepts and applications of theoretical ecology.  Emphasis is on the mathematical analysis and modeling of single populations and multi-species interactions, and the integration of models with data. Topics include discrete- and continuous-time models of population growth, stochastic and deterministic processes of structured and unstructured populations, population viability analysis and the sustainability of harvested populations, numeric and analytical investigations of population and community invasibility and stability, and an introduction to model-fitting and comparison in an information-theoretic framework.

  Course objectives:  Our goals are to (i) peel away at any apprehensions of mathematical equations you may have, (ii) enable you to independently interpret the classic and modern literature of theoretical ecology, and (iii) enable you to apply analytical and simulation-based approaches in evaluating ecological questions of your own interest and communicate these to an audience of your peers.

You will complete the course with a working knowledge of at least one programming language (R or Matlab) and some Sage.

Co-instructor: Tim Tinker
Last taught: Spring 2010