Open positions at Zurich Population Ecology group – click here.
Principal investigator: Arpat Ozgul, Ph.D., Assistant professor
Eco-evolutionary mechanisms and demographic consequences of dispersal in socially structured populations
Many species live in socially and spatially structured populations, and dispersal is an important process governing the dynamics of these systems. However, our understanding of the complexity of dispersal is limited due largely to technological constraints. As a result, our investigations of the dynamics of socially and spatially structured populations often fail to incorporate the true complexity of dispersal, and thus, fail to describe the overall system dynamics adequately.
In our research, we bring together quantitative models, long-term individual-based life-history data, state-of-the-art tracking technology, and novel telemetry data on dispersal to provide an explicit investigation of dispersal in the Kalahari meerkat. With an interdisciplinary network of expertise (Population Ecology Research Group – UZH,Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement, EPFL, Large Animal Research Group – Cambridge), we aim to overcome the technological challenges, and explore the patterns and mechanisms of dispersal, the resulting population-dynamics implications of dispersal, and the consequent selective costs and benefits of alternative dispersal strategies.
- Website: http://www.popecol.org/team/arpat-ozgul/
- Contact: arpat.ozgul@ieu.uzh.ch
More information about current projects can be found by clicking on the group members’ names below.