New publication in Ecology Letters

Dr Anna Eklöf recently published her paper "The dimensionality of ecological networks" in Ecology Letters, the currently ranked No 1 Ecology journal. Big congrats! The paper investigates how many dimensions (niche-axes) that are needed to enable us to predict which pairs of species interact in an ecological network. The question originated already with the idea of ecological niches, but has remained unanswered. Analysing 200 ecological networks, of different interaction types, Anna and colleagues reach the surprising conclusion that <10 dimensions are needed to explain all interactions, with model selection favouring even fewer, <5. Get your hands on the paper here! (2013-02-27)

Visit from Down Under

This week the group of Theoretical Biology had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Daniel Stouffer from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Daniel travelled here to be the opponent at Sofia Berg's thesis defence, but his extended stay allowed for many rewarding discussions with Bo Ebenman, Anna Eklöf, Uno Wennergren and their Ph.D. students. Dr Stouffer also held an appreciated talk in the Thursday Seminar series of IFM, the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. (2013-02-15)

Linköping host of the OIKOS meeting

The annual meeting of the Swedish Ecological Society OIKOS was this year held at Linköping University. Lars Westerberg and collegues did a tremendous job organizing it all. More than a hundred ecologists from all over Sweden attended at and contributed to the conference with talks, posters and photos to the photocompetition. Theoretical Biology were represented by Anna Eklöf and Tom Lindström, giving talks, and David Gilljam and Jonatan Årevall presenting posters. This year's Per Brinck Award was given to Prof. Sharon Strauss, from the University of California Davis, for her work on eco-evolutionary processes within complex communities. As a bonus, this year, in direct connection to the OIKOS meeting the Swedish National Phenology Network held a phenology symposium, starring Dr. Annette Menzel from the Technical University Munich. (2013-02-11)

Sofia Berg nailed it!

And "it" is her thesis, entitled "Community Robustness Analysis: Theoretical Approaches to Identifying Keystone Structures in Ecological Communities". Having been nailed, it must soon be defended and Friday the 15th of February is the Day for Sofia. Her opponent will be Dr. Daniel Stouffer from the University of Canterbury, New Zeeland. Daniel will be staying with us for a week, getting rid of his jet lag just in time for his long flight home. In the examination committee we will see Docent Anna Gårdmark, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Prof. Sebastian Diehl, Umeå University and Prof. Peter Hambäck, Stockholm University. (2013-01-23)

The 4th Swedish Meeting on Mathematics in Biology

...was arranged by the PEG and held in Lund, 11-12 December. PACE Lab's Bo Ebenman, Alva Curtsdotter and David Gilljam were there, the latter two presenting posters. Key note speakers Russel Lande and Ken Andersen covered "Selection and evolution in fluctuating environments" and "Trait based models". The audience/other speakers consisted of mathematicians, biologists and everything in between, making for a varied and interesting program during daytime as well as for varied and interesting conversations in the evening. (2012-12-21)

Anna Eklöf lands 2.5 MSEK grant from Vetenskapsrådet

Last week Anna Eklöf received a 2.5 million SEK grant from Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council) for her research on "Species-specific traits in ecological networks -- importance for structure, functioning and robustness". The aim is to develop new methods to increase our understanding of which factors are most important in shaping species interactions in various types of ecosystems. The grant will cover Dr. Eklöf's research at Linköping University for three years. (2012-11-09)

Uno Wennergren lands 2.5 MSEK Formas grant

Recently, professor Wennergren received 2.5 million swedish crowns from The Swedish Research Council Formas. The funding is for a 3-year post doc, the purpose of which is to develop a theoretical framework that manages to link local population processes to the larger scale of EU-wide biodiversity trajectories. This project however is only one part of a larger EU project with the aim to predict European biodiversity trajectories, resilience and changes to ecosystem services under scenarios of climate and land-use change. (2012-09-13)

New SPABIO Member

We welcome Master student Jonatan Årevall who will be working on his Master thesis with Uno Wennergren as supervisor. By using a spatially explicit metapopulation model Jonatan will investigate if and how the bacterial strain wMel Wolbachia can be introduced efficiently to a population of mosquitos, who are vectors for dengue fever. Such an introduction would be desirable as the Wolbachia infection reduces the replication of new virus particles in the mosquito host, thereby reducing the risk that a mosquito bite will spread the virus to a human host. (2012-09-11)

Paper highlighted in Science for Environment Policy

In late June, Dr Linda Kaneryd's paper "Species-rich ecosystems are vulnerable to cascading extinctions in an increasingly variable world" was highlighted in the Science for Environment Policy News Alert. This weekly news alert is part of the news and information service published by Directorate-General Environment, European Commission, designed to help the busy policymaker keep up-to-date with the latest environmental research findings needed to design, implement and regulate effective policies. See the highlight here or read the paper! (2012-08-14)

Great media coverage of the Arctic Charr research

When Malin Setzer's thesis "The decline of great Arctic Charr in Lake Vättern - empirical and theoretical analyses of suggested causes" was presented in the beginning of summer it attracted quite a bit of attention. News papers, internet news sites, radio and tv news programmes reported on the research results, especially focusing on the rising threat that climate change may pose to the already diminished population of great Arctic Charr in Vättern. The media coverage ranged from local and specialized, such as Länstidningen i Vadstena and fiskemagasinet.se, over regional media, such as Östgöta Correspondenten, SVTs Östnytt and P4 Ekot Östergötland, all the way up to national, such as Svenska Dagbladet. The article on LiU's own news site you can find here, where there is also a link to the thesis itself. (2012-08-14)

Half Time Seminar x 2

On the 20th of June PhD students David Gilljam and Alva Curtsdotter will have a joint half time seminar with Tomas Jonsson in the role of opponent. Different aspects of structure and stability of ecological networks will be covered, including analysis of the body-size structure of empirical networks, robustness of size-structured food webs and the stability consequences of structural rewiring in dynamical models. All interested are welcome to room Odén at 13.15. (2012-06-15)

Malin Setzer nailed her thesis...

...3 weeks ago. And tomorrow she will defend it! The thesis is called "The decline of great Arctic charr in Lake Vättern - empirical and theoretical analyses of suggested causes". As the title implies this thesis stands out among the Theoretical Biology theses due to its combination of theory and modelling with empirical studies. Malin's opponent is Prof. Mark Emmerson from Queen's University Belfast, and in the examination committee we will find Prof. Larry Greenberg, Karlstad University, Dr. John Piccolo, Karlstad University and Dr. Andrea Belgrano, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Lysekil. (2012-05-31)

Stochasticity in Norway

The newly become Ph. D. Linda Kaneryd, and still Ph. D. student Alva Curtsdotter just came home from a workshop at Lovund, Norway. It was on the occasion of Professor Russell Lande’s award of the Balzan Prize 2011 for Theoretical Biology or Bioinformatics that the Centre for Conservation Biology (CCB) organized a workshop called "Stochastic demography in fluctuating environments: theory and empirical patterns ".  Memorable lectures were held by Russel Lande, Steinar Engen and Bernt-Erik Saether and interesting presentations were provided by several of the workshop attendees themselves. However, who knows if the most long-lasting impressions weren't caused by some of the local inhabitants instead, the amazing bumble-bee-birds: the puffins! (2012-04-30)

Congratulations to the new Doctor Jenny Lennartsson

Jenny Lennartsson successfully defended her thesis "Networks and epidemics - impact of network structure on disease transmission" on Friday the 27th of April. Dr Meggan Craft of University of Minnesota, USA  was her opponent. (2012-05-21)

A Double of Defence

Jenny Lennartsson and Nina Håkansson played a double in the noble game of "Nailing the thesis" on the 5th of April. Accordingly, they will both defend their thesis next week. First out is Nina on Thursday the 26th of April. Her opponent will be Vittoria Colizza of University Pierre and Marie Curie, France, and in the examination committee we will find Girma Gibresenbet, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Linda Keeling, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala and Michael Hörnquist, Linköping University. Next, on Friday the 27th of April Jenny Lenmartsson is up for defence. Her opponent will be Meggan Craft of University of Minnesota, USA and in the examaination committee we will find Ivar Vågsholm, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Fredrik Liljeros, Stockholm University and Björn Olsson, University of Skövde. We wish both of them the best of luck! (2012-04-20)

Linda Kaneryd has nailed her thesis

...and will defend it on Wednesday the 4th of April. Her opponent will be Mike Fowler of Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, Mallorca and in the examination committee we will find Jan Bengtsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Jon Norberg, Stockholms University and Örjan Bodin, Stockholms University. We wich her the best of luck! (2012-03-22)

Congratulations to the new Doctor Frida Lögdberg