Name(s) of the folks involved in this project: Phoebe Jekielek and Sarah Risley
Working title: Neutral Theory & the Stochastic Process of Dispersal in Marine Communities
Project summary (1-2 sentences): This project aims to conduct a review of the literature to identify papers that apply neutral theory to marine systems, if any, focusing on species with high levels of dispersal such as shellfish. Using existing models and developing our own we will consider how dispersal rates and distances may vary depending on the marine habitat, for example oyster larvae within an estuary vs scallop larvae in the open ocean.
What is especially interesting (to you!) about this project?: Both Phoebe and I spend a lot of time thinking about shellfish populations, both wild and farmed, and the degree to which these populations are connected. Thinking about larval dispersal and how it relates to biodiversity through the lens of neutral theory is not only a fun idea to play around with (as is monkeying with the model code and parameters!), but also an important dimension for us to consider when examining population connectivity and genetic diversity of shellfish species.
How do you plan to tackle this project?: We aim to conduct a review of the literature to identify papers that apply neutral theory to marine systems with high levels of dispersal. Ideally, one of these papers will have clear methods that we can use to generate our own model (or better yet, some existing code!) and then run a number of simulations and report our results. It would be interesting to consider how dispersal rates and distances may vary depending on the marine habitat, for example oyster larvae within an estuary vs scallop larvae in the open ocean.
Game plan:
- Identify (max 20) papers discussing neutral and dispersal--by Wednesday.
- Read and identify parameters and methods related to modeling neutral theory in marine systems with dispersal (i.e. dispersal parameter m or dispersal kernal--see Rosindell et al., 2011).
- Identity guiding paper with model methods and example parameters--this will be used as a model for our inquiry.
- Generate a one page synthesis of our findings, listing considerations for parameter selection, suggested data sources, and potential applications in marine systems.
What concepts or tools from class relate to this project?: This project relates directly to our discussions of neutral theory and its applications in the field of ecology. The goal of this project is to delve more deeply into the theory of the neutral theory of biodiversity and explore how it can be applied in the context of marine communities and ecosystems.
What additional resources (code, data, literature) would support this project?: This project will rely on both literature and code.
How can Andy or Renata help?: Any literature suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as would some office hour time to run through our code and talk about what we would need to make a neutral theory model that accounts for marine levels of dispersal (vs. terrestrial models that may have smaller estimates of dispersal).