Details of Award

NERC Reference : NER/A/S/2001/01254

Inferring long-term community dynamics from spatial patch mosaics.

Principal Investigator:: Professor P Mumby, University of Sheffield, Probability and Statistics
Co-Investigator:: Professor PG Blackwell, University of Sheffield, Mathematics and Statistics
Grant held at:: University of Sheffield, Probability and Statistics

ENRIs:: Natural Resource Management; Global Change; Biodiversity
Science Topics:: Ecosystem Scale Processes; Conservation Ecology; Community Ecology; Climate & Climate Change

Abstract:: The large-scale and long-term dynamics of benthic communities are poorly understood because the duration of experiments are rarely commensurate with the longevity of communities. However, the physical and biological processes that cause community dynamics span many scales and elicit scale-dependent patterns of community structure across the seascape. We identify these processes for major reef building communities using an innovative combination of spatially-explicit patch dynamic models, Earth Observation and field survey. Patch dynamic models predict how various physical and biological processes affect the distribution of communities. Model outputs are compared to natural patterns of community distribution as measured using Earth Observation. Causative processes are then inferred from the model which most closely fits field data and observed community patterns.

Authorised funds only

This grant award has a total value of £79,273

Total - Staff	Total - Indirect Costs	Total - Equipment
£53,407	£24,566	£1,300

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