Much of biology can be viewed as the study of populations. The goals of population dynamics are to understand, explain, and predict the dynamics of populations.  This new course will concentrate on modeling factors which can regulate population sizes (competition, predation, disease, limited food supply, etc.).  Besides formulating models, we will use methods in dynamical systems, especially phase plane analysis and bifurcation analysis, to analyze the models. I plan to illustrate key concepts, as well as modeling difficulties, using actual field and lab data.

 

 

The minimum prerequisite is a basic ODE course, such as Math 2403. Ideally, students will have taken a second course in ODEs or dynamical systems. Mathematically sophisticated students in other departments are welcome to attend the course, and I will try my best to make the course accessible to those students.

 

The choice of topics will somewhat depend on the students' backgrounds and interests, but core topics include: single species models (density-independent and density dependent growth, age-structured models), interacting species models (competition, predation, mutualism, parasitoidism),  SIR disease models, and meta-population models. Next year I hope to teach a complementary course on spatial population models.