Habitat-driven extinctions: insights from spatially implicit ODE models 

Speaker:  Kate Meyer, Cornell University

Abstract: Biodiversity underpins ecosystem functioning but continues to decline on a global scale. Among human activities driving this trend, habitat destruction is a leading culprit in local and global extinctions. Simple mathematical models can address important questions surrounding habitat-driven extinctions—for example, which species are at highest risk, how delayed might extinction be, and what can be done about it? Exploring these questions in a spatially implicit ODE model leads us to new mathematical territory involving temporary parameter changes and nonequilibrium dynamics.