Biosciences Seminar Speaker 19 May 2016

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2016
19 May 2016 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Can sustainable agriculture give us a sustainable food system?

Prof Tim Benton

(University of Leeds, UK)

Image from seedfeedfood.eu

Abstract

Other than at a small scale, it makes little sense to think about sustainable agriculture (the supply of food), without also thinking about the demand for food that drives production within the agri-food system.  I’ll examine notions of sustainability, from an environmental perspective, and some of the wicked problems that arise from agriculture impacting upon many ecosystem services (leading to trade-offs between different aspects of impact).  

Whilst we can get better at managing agricultures’ impacts through changing farming efficiency and thinking about ecosystem services and their provision at a landscape scale, without tackling demand, the drive for “intensification” will dominate production systems.  Thus, ultimately, a sustainable farming system requires sustainable demand.

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

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 12 May 2016

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2016
12 May 2016 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Land-use impacts on 'beeodiversity' and biodiversity: from data to models to policy

Dr Adriana De Palma

(Natural History Museum London, UK)

from: Natural History Museum London - www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/science-news/2015/september/research-into-species-traits-could-help-save-europe-s-dying-bees.html

Abstract

Bees are one of the most important groups of pollinators and are threatened by a number of human impacts, but some key knowledge gaps limit our ability to inform conservation activities. Which species or groups of species are most vulnerable to human land use and agricultural intensification? Do different aspects of bee diversity – taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity – respond similarly to land-use pressures? Are responses consistent around the world? Where has bee diversity been most heavily impacted? 

As part of the PREDICTS project (www.predicts.org.uk), I have collated a global dataset of bee diversity from the published literature and integrated it with information on land use, species' traits and phylogeny in order to answer these questions. Whereas that work was based on spatial comparisons, my current work (on “PREDICTS v2”) directly focuses on the temporal dynamics of biodiversity in response to land-use change. Both projects have the potential to inform policy decisions, but making the link between policy needs and PREDICTS outputs can be difficult; I will outline some of the ways in which the PREDICTS project has been engaging with policy.

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

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 05 May 2016

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2016
05 May 2016 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Predicting wildlife dynamics in a changing environment

Dr Ben Collen

(University College London, UK)

Abstract

We live amid a global wave of anthropogenically driven biodiversity loss. Over the past decade, numerous metrics for biodiversity — including species abundance, extinction risk, distribution, genetic variability, species turnover, and trait diversity—have been used to create indicators to track how biodiversity has changed.  These indicators have made it
 clear that broad scale biodiversity loss, however it is measured, is showing 
little sign of abatement and 
that humans must respond to safeguard the provision of natural services on which we all rely. 

Butchert etal 2010 Science

But which metrics provide 
the most informative indicators
 under which circumstances? And how can the growing list of indicators best serve conservation policy decisions? I review the responses of animal populations to a range of human mediated drivers of change, showing where biological science has been effective at tracking recent changes in nature, and where gaps remain. I then examine prospects for predicting future changes, and why they matter to the biosphere and humans. 

I argue that evidence-based modelling can allow the causal relationships between policy actions, biodiversity change and indicators of change to be better understood. Developed correctly, indicators can start to tell us how we can best conserve biodiversity, not simply that we are failing to do so. 

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

BioMaths Colloquium - 29/04/2016

BioMaths Colloquium Series - 2015/16

29 April 2016 - 3pm Maths Seminar Room 

(room 224 Talbot Building 2nd floor)

Spatio-temporal modelling of gene regulatory networks: The role of molecular movement

Prof Mark Chaplain

(University of St Andrews, UK)

Abstract

Gene regulatory networks (GRN), i.e. DNA segments in a cell which interact with each other indirectly through their RNA and protein products, lie at the heart of many important intracellular signal transduction processes. In this talk, we will present and analyse mathematical models of various GRNs using partial differential equations (PDE) and stochastic PDEs. We will then analyze a mathematical model of a canonical gene regulatory network consisting of a single negative feedback loop between a protein and its mRNA (e.g. the Hes1 transcription factor system). 

The model consists of two partial differential equations describing the spatio-temporal interactions between the protein and its mRNA in a one-dimensional domain. Such intracellular negative feedback systems are known to exhibit oscillatory behavior and this is the case for our model, shown initially via computational simulations. In order to investigate this behavior more deeply, we undertake a linearized stability analysis of the steady states of the model. 

Our results show that the diffusion coefficient of the protein/mRNA acts as a bifurcation parameter and gives rise to a Hopf bifurcation. This shows that the spatial movement of the mRNA and protein molecules alone is sufficient to cause the oscillations. Our result has implications for transcription factors such as p53, NF-kappaB and heat shock proteins which are involved in regulating important cellular processes such as inflammation, meiosis, apoptosis and the heat shock response, and are linked to diseases such as arthritis and cancer.

The discussions will continue over biscuits and tea/coffee after the seminar. 

Hope to see many of you!

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 26 April 2016

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2016
26 April 2016 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Measuring the rate and nature of evolution 

using comparative methods

Prof Robert Freckleton

(University of Sheffield, UK)

Abstract

The comparative method is one of the most important methods for studying evolution and adaptation with applications in ecology, behaviour and conservation. Modern comparative approaches recognize that phylogenetic relationships create structure in data that can be used to improve statistical inference as well as uncover the signal of different evolutionary processes. 

In this talk I present recent work on applying comparative methods to problems in the analysis of data and modelling evolution. In the first part of the talk I discuss problems with heterogeneous data quality and the analysis of experimental data on multiple species. In the second part of the talk I look at non-Brownian evolution resulting from interactions between species during their evolution. 

I highlight the use of new statistical methods that can  be used to model complex evolution of traits in adaptive radiations and present examples of where these have been applied.

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

BioMaths Colloquium - 17/03/2016

BioMaths Colloquium Series - 2015/16

18 March 2016 - 3pm Maths Seminar Room 

(room 224 Talbot Building 2nd floor)

Playing Colourful Games: 

Evolutionary Game Theory in Stochastic Environments

Dr Mike Fowler

(University of Swansea, UK)

Abstract

Game theory has a rich history across diverse academic fields, from economics to psychology. It has arguably been applied most successfully in Evolutionary Biology, explaining phenomena across multiple taxa, ranging from mating systems to boldness behaviours, with particular focus on the evolution and maintenance of co-operation in social systems. 

Here, I explore the effect of spatial and temporal coloured environmental variability – so called in analogy with the dominant frequencies in visible light – on the spatially iterated Prisoner’s dilemma. Building on classic work by Nowak & May (1992), I introduced coloured temporal and spatial variability into the payoff defectors receive when meeting a co-operator, to investigate how this variability altered the proportion (and variability in this proportion) of co-operators found in a population. 

Results show that introducing coloured environmental variability has an intriguing array of context-dependent effects on the maintenance of co-operation in a population, from promotion of co-operaton to its complete loss. This talk is deliberately aimed at a general audience and includes at least one analogy with a pop music video.

The discussions will continue over biscuits and tea/coffee after the seminar. 

Hope to see many of you!

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 17 March 2016

Biosciences Seminar Series - Winter 2016
17 March 2016 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

          Reputation: 

a driving force in the evolution of cooperation and punishment

Dr Nicola Raihani

(University College London, UK)

Abstract

Evolution is a strict accountant. Costly actions must be ultimately repaid if they are to come under positive selection. In this talk, I will consider the role of reputation in explaining the evolution of costly helping and costly punishing. I will explore when helping might improve an individual's reputation and - conversely - when reputation costs might lead individuals to hide their helpful actions from others. 

Although harming others is typically expected to result in reputation costs, there might nevertheless be scenarios where harming others actually improves an individual's reputation. I will present a conceptual framework and empirical evidence to describe when harmful actions result in reputation gains to the actor - and offer an evolutionary explanation as to why. 

Ultimately I will argue that reputation offers a powerful incentive for both helping and punishing in nature.

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