Research
Adaptive behaviour and population dynamics
Understanding the effects of adaptive behaviour in simple and complex food webs
is important in the search for mechanisms that maintain ecosystem structure and
biodiversity in general. Our research focuses on mathematical modelling of the
interplay of adaptive animal behaviour and population dynamics. Behavioural aspects
such as changes of prey behaviour under predation risk, adaptive habitat selection,
and optimal foraging, including trade-offs in host-parasitoid interactions, have
been shown to strongly affect dynamics, stability, and persistence of populations.
Through evolutionary game theory and theory of differential equations and inclusions,
we define and search for evolutionarily stable strategies and study consequences of
such adaptive behaviour on population dynamics. Also, theoretically derived behavioural
strategies serve us as null hypotheses for adequate optimal foraging and habitat
selection experiments.
Dynamics of structured populations
Thi constitutes the second major area of our research, supported mainly by extensive
numerical simulations. We deal with population-dynamic and evolutionary consequences
of sex-, size- and space-structured populations. Our research covers a range of
topics including dispersal-driven metapopulation dynamics, impacts of mating
strategies on population survival, and evolution of life history strategies or
traits in size-structured and two-sex populations. The results cover a range of
model organisms, with ramifications for conservation strategies, biocontrol
programmes, and management of exploited resources.
Complex biological networks
Such networks emerge in ecology, evolution as well as biomedicine. Understanding their structure,
functioning and regulation is a key issue of contemporary biology. We are currently
developing new mathematical models of such networks, integrating various levels of
complexity that have previously been studied in separation. Using large-scale
computer simulations and bifurcation analyses of multi-species networks, we hope
to disentangle major patterns that drive their dynamics. We focus mainly on the
impact of smaller building blocks and individual interactions on the plausibility
of various network configurations and resilience of these networks against invasion
and extinction events.