Spatial Population Dynamics - Spatial Ecology Lab, The University of Queensland

Our lab's research in spatial population dynamics includes both applied and theoretical research, and includes: Landscape ecology Metapopulation theory Maximising metapopulation persistence in a conservation planning framework Modelling dispersal mechanisms Using genetic data to better understand dispersal mechanisms and events Invasive species
People	Michael Bode, Yvonne Buckley, Ché Elkin, Justine Murray, David Pavlacky, Joshua Ross, Hugh Possingham
Collaborators	Karin Frank and Martin Drechsler, Department of Ecological Modelling at the UFZ, in Leipzig, Germany
Links and Downloads	ALEX (Analysis of the Likelihood of Extinction) is a metapopulation modelling program, developed by Hugh Possingham, Ian Davies and Ian Noble. ALEX can be found and downloaded here.
Key references	Nicholson, E., M. I. Westphal, K. Frank , W. A. Rochester, R. L. Pressey, D. Lindenmayer & H. P. Possingham (in press) A new method for conservation planning for the persistence of multiple species. Ecology Letters. pdf Cabeza, M., A. Moilanen and H. P. Possingham (2004) Metapopulation dynamics and reserve network design. Pages 541-564 in I. Hanski and O. Gaggiotti, editors. Ecology, genetics, and evolution of metapopulations. Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam Haight, R. G., B. Cypher, P. A. Kelly, S. Phillips, K. Ralls and H. P. Possingham (2004) Optimizing reserve expansion for disjunct populations of San Joaquin kit fox. Biological Conservation 117:61-72 pdf McCarthy, M. A., S. J. Andelman and H. P. Possingham (2003) Reliability of relative predictions in population viability analysis. Conservation Biology 17:1-9 pdf Westphal, M. I., M. Pickett, W. Getz and P. H.P. (2003) The use of stochastic dynamic programming in optimal landscape reconstruction for metapopulations. Ecological Applications 13:543-555 pdf Bascompte, J., H. P. Possingham and J. Roughgarden (2002) Patchy populations in stochastic environments: Critical number of patches for persistence. The American Naturalist 159:128-137 pdf Haight, R. G., B. Cypher, P. A. Kelly, S. Phillips, H. P. Possingham, K. Ralls, A. M. Starfield, P. J. White and D. Williams (2002) Optimizing habitat protection using demographic models of population viability. Conservation Biology 16:1386-1397 pdf Amarasekare, P. and H. P. Possingham (2001) Patch dynamics and metapopulation theory: the case of successional species. Journal of Theoretical Biology 209:333-344 pdf Lindenmayer, D. B., M. A. McCarthy, H. P. Possingham and S. Legge (2001) A simple landscape-scale test of a spatially explicit population model: patch occupancy in fragmented south-eastern Australian forests. Oikos 92:445-458 pdf McCarthy, M. A., D. B. Lindenmayer and H. P. Possingham (2001) Assessing spatial PVA models of arboreal marsupials using significance tests and bayesian statistics. Biological Conservation 98:191-200 pdf Tenhumberg, B., M. A. Keller, H. P. Possingham and A. Tyre (2001) The effect of resource aggregation at different scales: optimal foraging of Cotesia rubecula. The American Naturalist 158:505-518 pdf Tyre, A. J., H. P. Possingham and D. P. Niejalke (2001) Detecting environmental impacts on metapopulations of mound spring invertebrates - Assessing an incidence function model. Environment International 27:225-229 pdf Shea, K. and H. P. Possingham (2000) Optimal release stratgies for biological control agents: an application of stochastic dynamic programming to population management. Journal of Applied Ecology 37:77-86 pdf Possingham, H. P. (1996) Decision theory and biodiversity management: how to manage a metapopulation. Pages 391-398 in R. B. Floyd, A. W. Sheppard and P. J. De Barro, editors. Frontiers of Population Ecology. CSIRO, Melbourne Day, J. R. and H. P. Possingham (1995) A stochastic metapopulation model with variability in patch size and position. Theoretical Population Biology 48:333-360 pdf Tuck, G. N. and H. P. Possingham (1994) Optimal harvesting strategies for a metapopulation. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 56:107-127