Jon Hoekstran Speaks this Week

[Thomas Daniel <danielt@u.washington.edu>]

This week Jon  Hoekstra speaks!!!!

He will present the talk in the usual spot at the usual time

114 Kincaid Hall
1230 Wed and Friday







Quantifying the effect of habitat heterogeneity on population dynamics.

Habitat heterogeneity has been argued to reduce extinction risk for
isolated
populations by providing micro-environmental refuges from extreme
weather
conditions.  If true, this could have important implications for how
conservation biologists evaluate the suitability of potential preserves
and
how they define habitat restoration and management goals.  Before
everyone
races off to integrate heterogeneous components into their habitat
management plans, we need to know how general this phenomenon is, and
under
what conditions it may or may not hold.

I will present preliminary results from a series of experiments designed
to
measure the effect of habitat heterogeneity on the dynamics of replicate

populations.  I established experimental populations of Drosophila
melanogaster in large field cages over landscapes of rotting apples
during
summer and fall seasons.  I manipulated thermal heterogeneity of apple
landscapes with shade cloth.  I then monitored abundance of adult flies
for
6 to 8 weeks (3-5 generations).  To evaluate the effect of shade cloth
treatments and season on dynamics of these populations, I plan to use
functional data analysis techniques with which I hope to quantitatively
compare key features of the population growth trajectories.  On Monday,
I
will discuss the motivations behind these experiments, describe my
experimental methods in more detail, and show you what the data look
like.
On Friday, I will introduce some relevant techniques for functional data

analysis and attempt to apply them to my experimental data.  If all goes

well, I will convince you that habitat heterogeneity can exert a strong
buffering influence on population dynamics, and that functional data
analysis can quantify that effect.