Population models use mathematics to help us understand the dynamics of complex interactions and biological processes. They describe changes in population size and age distribution, driven by interactions with the environment, with individuals of the same species or with other species. Modelling vector–host interactions, for example, shows how their numbers change over time and in relation to each other, and how infection passes between populations.
Course content
- Basic applied mathematics refresher
- Introduction to population modelling concepts
- Bacterial growth model; single-species population models
- Lotka–Volterra competition models (two or more species, with harvesting)
- Predator–prey models
- Leslie matrices and age-structured models
- Epidemiological SIR models (modelling wildlife diseases)
- Project: ecological niche models for biodiversity conservation
Practical sessions
- MATLAB and R: installation and a quick start in programming
- Modelling with difference equations in Excel
- Ecological niche modelling with MaxEnt
- Introduction to QGIS