The role of modeling in conservation biology (and other interesting fields)

Date

Jun 21, 2012

Time

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Speaker

Prof. Dr. Uta Berger

Affiliation

TU Dresden, Forest Biometrics / Systems Analysis

Series

TUD Mathematik AG Analysis & Stochastik

Language

en

Main Topic

Mathematik

Other Topics

Mathematik

Host

Prof. Dr. Z. Sasvári

Description

! Bitte neuen Termin 21.06.2012 beachten - eingetragen am 08.05.2012 Human impact on earth has reached a dimension that cause significant losses of species diversity. The particular consequences are still poorly understood, but scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders are alarmed and demand effective measures for conserving endangered species. In this frame, conservation biology has been developed as independent discipline. The principle aim is to protect species, their habitats and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinctions; but conservation measures are cost intensive. As a result, conservational scientists are frequently asked to choose the most effective scenarios. This requires a forecast of their potential impacts on the fate of the population. A suite of adequate computer model applications is summarized under the term „Population Viability Analysis (PVA)“. Individual-based models (IBMs) are among them, and have been approved to be suitable for describing the fate of organisms and their interactions. Nevertheless, the question arises how good a forecast can be - based on scarce data, and considering the effects of environmental and demographic stochasticity. Recent efforts have been done for dealing with these problems while developing, parameterising and evaluating IBMs. They base on both classical deviation measures and information theory. I will discuss their potentials and limitations for IBM applications in conservation biology.

Links

• Webseite der AG Analysis & Stochastik

Last modified: May 8, 2012, 11:05:04 AM