BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//talks.cam.ac.uk//v3//EN
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:19700329T010000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:19701025T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CATEGORIES:Microsoft Research Cambridge\, public talks
SUMMARY:How can we model complex ecosystems with stochasti
 c interactions between individuals at different sp
 atial and temporal scales? Some case studies - Tim
  Benton\, University of Leeds
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20101109T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20101109T140000
UID:TALK27784AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/27784
DESCRIPTION:How can we model complex ecosystems with stochasti
 c interactions between individuals at different sp
 atial and temporal scales? Some case studies\n\nEc
 ological systems are hugely complex\; and therefor
 e prediciting how they behave raises many issues f
 or modelling.  In ecology\, models can be either g
 eneral\, precise but inaccurate\, or specific\, ac
 curate but imprecise\, as the more detail they inc
 lude to make them accurate ties them more closely 
 to specific empirical systems. Further\, the more 
 processes they contain\, the more imprecise they a
 re likely to become (by creating variation).  I wi
 ll illustrate the issues with two empirical exampl
 es of ecological systems.  First\, a well-understo
 od soil mite - where (a) the environment-phenotype
  map is very complex due to lagged effects on indi
 vidual development\, leading to considerable "nois
 e" in the dynamics\, and (b) the system evolves ra
 pidly\, such that parameters are not stationary.  
 A natural approach to modelling this system is via
  individual-based models\, or trait-based integral
 -projection models.  The second case study is biod
 iversity dynamics in agricultural land.  Here diff
 erent taxa respond to the environment in context-d
 ependent and scale-dependent ways.  We need tools 
 to understand how best to design landscapes for op
 timal delivery of ecosystem services. So the quest
 ion arises as to how best to model complex ecosyst
 ems with stochastic interactions between individua
 ls at different spatial and temporal scales.  This
  is a classic question in systems biology: how do 
 you take the necessary information across scales i
 n an efficient way.
LOCATION:Small lecture theatre\, Microsoft Research Ltd\, 7
  J J Thomson Avenue (Off Madingley Road)\, Cambrid
 ge
CONTACT:Microsoft Research Cambridge Talks Admins
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR