CCSS Masterclass on Ecological Networks Lecture 2: Points of interest

The CCSS MasterClass is a series of lectures on a specific topic of Complexity Science given by a leading expert in the field, which is generously supported by one of our UU alumni Laurens Gaarenstroom.

Masterclass Overview

General Title: Ecological Networks - Mapping the tangled bank

At the beginning of the last paragraph in the sixth edition of “The Origin of Species,” Charles Darwin wrote: “It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.”
Ecological networks represent species as nodes and biotic interactions among species, such as feeding, parasitism, seed dispersal, and pollination, as links. In this way, ecological networks form a map of species interdependencies that helps researchers relate individual-level ecological processes to system-level properties such as resistance to invasive species and resilience to climate change. In this MasterClass, we survey the history of ecological networks, traverse hot topics in contemporary research, and explore exciting paths for future work.

Part I on Monday 5 June (10:00-15:00 with lunch) Lecture 1: Mappa mundi (with hands-on tutorials)
Part II on Tuesday 6 June (10:00-15:00 with lunch) Lecture 2: Points of interest (with hands-on tutorials)
Part III on Wednesday 7 June (10:00-13:00 with lunch) Lecture 3: Terra incognita

Speaker Overview

Dr. Phillip P.A. Staniczenko is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Brooklyn College, City University of New York (CUNY) and a faculty member of the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Ph.D. program at the CUNY Graduate Center. He develops network methods for modelling the impacts of human activities on natural and urban ecosystems. His work has led to better extinction risk assessments and more accurate predictions of the effects of deforestation and urbanization on ecosystem services such as pollination and biological pest control.

Lecture 2 Overview

This lecture covers a range of topics in contemporary ecological networks research. We translate familiar concepts such as motifs and modularity to ecological contexts, and encounter some less-common ones, such as structural stability, intervality, and nestedness. In the tutorial, we use the new concept of interaction preferences to predict changes in host-parasitoid network structure in modified habitats.

Meeting Details (location: MIN 4.16)

10:00-12:00 Lecture (with possibility of interval) given by Dr. Phillip Staniczenko
12:00-13:00 FREE lunch for all participants (signup below)
13:00–15:00 Hands-on tutorials

To attend the lecture (physically), please signup below before 15:00 on Friday 2 June.