Nabeel et al. present a method to derive models of theoretical ecology from stochastic time series data. This data-driven method may help empirical tests of ecological theories and to discover unknown principles. Read now ahead of print!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/734083
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More #TheoreticalEcology today @sfe2_2024 !
Felix Jaeger will talk about evolutionary transitions from #antagonism to #mutualism and back (11:15 in room Rhône 3B) and Franziska Koch will talk about the structure-stability relation of #competition #networks (15:15, also in room Rhône 3B).
Enjoy!
On my way to @sfe2_2024 in Lyon for the week. Looking forward to meet up with colleagues and friends.
I will chair the #TheoreticalEcology and #Modelling session on Tuesday morning (Auditorium) and will talk on Wednesday morning in the same session, about parameter #Identifiability in #IntegratedPopulationModels.
Also don't miss out the Symposium Advances in Statistical Ecology on Wednesday!
Send me a message if we don't cross paths and would like to chat.
Who is going to attend the annual #ecoevo #conference of @sfe2_2024 next week in Lyon?
The whole eco-evo modelling team will be there, with talks about bush encroachment, competitive hierarchies and evolutionary tipping points. Are you joining as well? Then please let us know! We would love to get in touch!
We are hiring!
I'm looking for a doctoral or postdoctoral researcher to join my #ecoevo #modelling team at the University of Hohenheim in southern Germany. More info here:
Please boost!
#EcologicalNetworks
#EcologicalModelling
#ComputationalEcology
#TheoreticalEcology
@ecoevojobs
@phdstudents
shorturl.atJob vacancies: University of HohenheimCurrent job opportunities at the University of Hohenheim
Save the date!
The next @YoMosEco workshop for young modellers in ecology (#YoMos) will take place on 19-23th MAY 2025 in Ilmenau. Are you a BSc/MSc/PhD student interested in #EcologicalModelling and/or #TheoreticalEcology? Then don't think twice, this is certainly THE meeting to atttend next year.
New #preprint online!
From friend to foe and back - Coevolutionary transitions in the mutualism-antagonism continuum
1st author Felix Jäger studied the dynamic nature of biotic interactions and identified an evolutionary #TippingPoint: a gradual change in environmental conditions may lead to an abrupt breakdown of #mutualism to #antagonism, which can‘t be reversed by restoring the initial conditions. 
bioRxiv · From friend to foe and back - Coevolutionary transitions in the mutualism-antagonism continuumInterspecific interactions evolve along a continuum ranging from mutualism to antagonism. Evolutionary theory so far focused mostly on parts of this continuum, notably on mechanisms that enable and stabilise mutualism. These mechanisms often involve partner discrimination ensuring that interaction intensity is higher with more cooperative partners. However, the gradual trajectory of coevolutionary transitions between mutualism and antagonism remains unclear. Here, we model how discrimination ability in one partner coevolves with cooperativeness in the other and analyse the resulting evolutionary trajectories in the mutualism-antagonism continuum. We show that strong ecological change, such as a radical host shift or colonisation of a new environment, can trigger transitions in both directions including back-and-forth transitions between antagonism and mutualism. Moreover, we find an evolutionary tipping point: a stable mutualism may break down to antagonism if the cost of either mutualistic service or discrimination ability gradually increases above a threshold beyond which this transition cannot be reversed by reducing costs again. Our study provides a new perspective on the evolution of biotic interactions and hence on the dynamic structure of ecological networks.
### Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Oh, look who joined the mastodon community! Follow @YoMosEco for PhD positions, conferences, workshops, jobs and all sort of stuff relevant to Young Modellers in Ecology!
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#ComputationalEcology
#YoMos
We are hiring!
The first of two job postings for a #PhDposition in #TheoreticalEcology is now online. It will be part of a larger, interdisciplinary DFG project that investigates fitness consequences of biotic interactions in various systems. Please boost!
#EcologicalNetworks
#EcologicalModelling
#ComputationalEcology
@ecoevojobs
@phdstudents
www.uni-hohenheim.deJob vacancies: University of HohenheimCurrent job opportunities at the University of Hohenheim
conference altert
Are you a BSc/MSc/PhD student interested in #EcologicalModelling and/or #TheoreticalEcology?
Then the #Yomos workshop is just right for you! Come join us at the Federsee station in May! 
New #preprint is online!
"Many weak and few strong links" seems to be a common pattern in many #EcologicalNetworks. We show that this skewness in interaction strengths can enable stabilising effects of network structure. It should hence receive more attention in #TheoreticalEcology and #EcologicalModelling, especially in studies based on random matrices!
(Btw, just in case you are looking for guest speakers, I highly recommend the first author, Franziska Koch! 
)
bioRxiv · Skewness enables stabilising effect of hierarchy in complex competition networksIn observed ecological networks of interference-competition, hierarchy has been shown to generate asymmetric patterns of interaction strengths which enhance system stability. However, it remains unknown whether this stabilising effect of competitive hierarchies depends on the distribution of link strengths. Here, we analysed the relationship between interaction strength distributions, patterning, and system stability. We found that the interaction strengths within 30 observed encrusting, marine bryozoan networks were characterised by a high level of skewness, with many weak and few strong links. We showed that this distribution of link strengths is necessary for the stabilising effect of hierarchy, as skewness enables a patterning that strongly reduces the weight of short and long feedback loops. The stabilising effect of hierarchy did not appear in systems with uniform or normal distributions of interaction strengths. This has important ecological implications, since theoretical studies using random matrices often assume normal or uniform distributions. Since skewed interaction strengths are a common feature of ecological networks, including trophic and mutualistic systems, such theoretical approaches might overlook stabilising mechanisms present in living systems.
### Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Continued thread
Btw, the first author Franziska Koch recently gave some really nice conference presentations. Just in case you are looking for a brilliant seminar speaker…
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#EcologicalNetworks
Heads up, dear fellow modellers!
It's not official yet, but there will be a vacancy in my #ecoevo #modelling team starting early next year for at least 3 years. It's 50% university funded and open for either a PhD student or a postdoc. More info will follow soon - but you are of course welcome to get in touch now in case you are interested!
#PhDposition
#Postdoc
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#Yomos
#ecoevojobs
Looking for a #seminar speaker?
Look no more! Franziska Koch (PhD student in my team) would be happy to talk about her research on #bryozoans competing for space on the seabed. Amongst other things, she can demonstrate that competitive hierarchies mitigate network instability by keeping short and long feedback loops relatively weak. She is an excellent speaker and she can easily fill up to 30 minutes!
Paper published!
Our story on joint interaction disinvestment of #plant-#pollinator systems in response to #InsectDecline was accepted at Evolutionary Ecology and is now available online:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-023-10264-2
I hope you enjoy reading it!
#TheoreticalEcology
#ComputationalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#AdaptiveDynamics
#OpenAccess
SpringerLinkEco-evolutionary dynamics in two-species mutualistic systems: one-sided population decline triggers joint interaction disinvestment - Evolutionary EcologyThe interplay between ecological and evolutionary dynamics can create feedback that reinforces external disturbances and potentially threatens species’ coexistence. For example, plants might invest less into attracting insect pollinators (decreased flower or nectar production) and more into independence (increased selfing or vegetative reproduction) when faced with pollinator decline. This adaptive response saves plant resources at the cost of further threatening the pollinator population. We ask under which conditions such self-reinforcing feedback occurs in two-species mutualistic systems when considering one-sided population decline and whether it can be counteracted by self-dampening feedback if co-evolution of both interaction partners is considered. Based on a mathematical model and in line with previous studies, we find that the described pattern of accelerated population decline occurs for a wide range of parameter values if a concave allocation trade-off between independent growth and interaction investment is assumed. The undisturbed population typically disinvests first, which then forces the declining population to also disinvest, in favour of other energy sources. However, a decelerated population decline can occur if the adaptation of the undisturbed partner is relatively slow compared to environmental decay, reducing the speed of its disinvestment, or if the initial investment into the interaction was very high. Our results suggest that if actions are taken to save endangered populations, not only the evolution of the target species but also of their interaction partner, as well as the interaction between them should be considered.
I’m preparing a conference talk based on a recent publication (see below!). It’s a lot of work, because I have to start from scratch, so I would be sad to present it just once. Are you interested in #TheoreticalEcology and
#EcologicalModelling in general and/or #BushEncroachment of #savanna systems in particular? Then please get in touch! I would be happy to give a virtual seminar!
Job alert
The research group ‘Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics’ led by Lynn Govaert invites applications for a 3-year #PhDposition in #TheoreticalEcology at the Department of Evolutionary and Integrative Ecology of IGB in Berlin. Earliest starting date is mid-September 2023. Lynn and I are collaborating on this one, so please get in touch in case you are interested! :-)
@jobsecoevo
#EcoEvo
#EvolutionaryEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#CommunityEcology
#PhDjobs
karriere-igb.softgarden.ioPhD position in Theoretical Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics (m/f/x) at Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und BinnenfischereiWe're looking for: PhD position in Theoretical Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics (m/f/x) (Part Time) • Müggelseedamm, 12587 Berlin, Deutschland
My brain just wouldn't stop mulling over the mysterious error messages my simulation code was spitting out. So I've been staring at my code for 3 full days now. Yes, that's correct, 3 full days. Until I saw the misplaced brackets that made the population dynamics go wild. 
Hooray! 
Now, dear brain, you've done very well, can we please please please have weekend now?
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
# Programming
Sadly, it is already time to say goodbye to our guest student Deborah Doe. She came to visit my lab and to attend my summer course on #TheoreticalEcology. Now she's back in Ghana, preparing for her MPhil thesis. She will study the structure-stability relation of Ghanaian tree-liana interaction networks using methods from
#RandomMatrixTheory.
Stay tuned, this girl is on fire! 
I've been thinking a lot about why so few ecology students are interested in theory / maths / modelling / coding. I hypothesise that this is about exposure. They rarely learn about these things, so they feel intimidated and don't see the potential benefit. In my experience, however, they eventually get the hang of it - and often even enjoy it! - once they are forced to learn some basics. So maybe #TheoreticalEcology courses should become compulsory for ecology students? Any thoughts?