Biosciences Seminar Speaker 04 May 2017

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2017
04 May 2017 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

The Biogeography of plant population performance

Prof Yvonne Buckley

(Trinity College Dublin, IRL)

Photo: Luca Borger

We are delighted to welcome Prof Yvonne Buckley, Chair of Zoology at the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin (IRL), to our Biosciences Spring Seminar Series. Yvonne is interested in understanding what drives the dynamics of plant and animal populations under environmental change and then use this understanding to drive environmental decisions, such as biodiversity conservation, invasive species management and habitat restoration. To do so Yvonne uses a combination of field work, controlled experiments and mathematical/statistical modelling. Yvonne is particularly interested in comparative plant population dynamics, invasive plant management and predicting responses of populations to global change.

Abstract

Changes in the environment, such as those resulting from climate, land use and atmospheric nitrogen deposition, affect the performance and distribution of populations and species from local to global scales and disrupt ecosystem services provided by natural capital. In order to manage and adapt to the effects of environmental disruptions, we need to develop general predictions of the responses of populations to the environment from local to global scales. 
  I will discuss the geographical and environmental drivers of population performance using population dynamics data from multiple species from the plant matrix database COMPADRE. I will also introduce a new global spatially extensive population dynamics project PLANTPOPNET which aims to determine the environmental drivers of population performance for a single model species at the greatest global extent yet studied.

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!


For the list of forthcoming seminars see here