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Disease Dynamics in Ecology (Dr A
R White)
There is a long and developed association between mathematics and the
dynamics of ecological populations and this project uses ordinary and
partial differential equations and metapopulation frameworks to
understand the effects of disease on ecological systems. Of particular
interest is the effect of parasites and virus pathogens on the
dynamics of insect pests. The mathematical analysis here will allow us
to understand the patterns of spread and abundance of, for instance,
winter moth, a major pest of Scottish forests. Also of interest is a
study of the effects of parapoxvirus on the replacement of red
squirrels by greys in the UK.
Evolution of Ecological Systems (Dr A
R White)
This project aims to understand how characteristics of ecological
species evolve. It will apply recent advances in evolutionary theory -
adaptive dynamics - to classical Lotka-Volterra systems in which a new
species type (a mutant) is allowed to compete with an established
population. This work is at the forefront of attempts to explain how
speciation occurs (i.e. when one species splits to become two distinct
species).