Two Tales on the Assembly of Large Ecological Communities

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Event Details
  • Date/Time:
    • Thursday November 16, 2017
      10:55 am
  • Location: Room 1005, Roger A. and Helen B. Krone Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB), 950 Atlantic Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332
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  • Fee(s):
    N/A
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Contact
No contact information submitted.
Summaries

Summary Sentence: A Biological Sciences Seminar by Stefano Allesina, Ph.D.

Full Summary: No summary paragraph submitted.

Abstract
The staggering biodiversity observed around the globe has inspired ecologists to investigate how species-rich communities are formed and maintained. A particularly interesting process is that of community assembly: take barren ground, and introduce new species at a certain rate---how many species will be able to establish? Are there assembly rules that govern this process? 
I present two connected research projects on this theme. First, I ask how many species would coexist if we were to start from a random pool of species, and show how we can calculate this quantity when sampling species at random. Second, I simulate ecological assembly and show how choosing the next species to add to the community in different ways results in completely different community structures. Interestingly, many of the network patterns that are believed to be resulting from a "selection for stability" process could be by-products of community construction rules.

Additional Information

In Campus Calendar
Yes
Groups

School of Biological Sciences

Invited Audience
Faculty/Staff, Public, Graduate students, Undergraduate students
Categories
Seminar/Lecture/Colloquium
Keywords
School of Biological Sciences Seminar, Lin Jiang, Stefano Allesina
Status
  • Created By: Jasmine Martin
  • Workflow Status: Published
  • Created On: Nov 7, 2017 - 12:23pm
  • Last Updated: Nov 7, 2017 - 12:23pm