Mathematics Colloquia and Seminars

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Ever since Darwin described the interdependence among species with his ‘entangled bank’, ecologists have pursued to understand how biological communities persist in nature with their vast number of species and interactions. Mathematical models have helped to characterize the complex dynamics of ecological systems and the model predictions have guided further empirical research. This talk will present an overview of the different projects the Valdovinos Lab has conducted using mathematical models, complex networks, and computational tools. These projects include: i) effects of pollinators’ adaptive foraging on the dynamics of plant-pollinator networks, ii) predicting the invasion success of alien pollinators and their effects on native species, iii) effects of artisanal fisheries on an intertidal food web in the Central Coast of Chile, and iv) integrating ecological and economic dynamics into the study of fisheries sustainability. I will also touch on other projects including network reconstruction of plant-pollinator systems, theory on mutualisms, and the evolution of food webs.