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Complex Ecological and Evolutionary Systems

The Complex Ecological and Evolutionary Systems research group primarily develop mathematical and computational models to understand the processes and mechanisms underlying a wide variety of biological systems. The sometimes over-whelming complexity of biological systems can often be broken down into its constituent parts and re-assembled using theoretical models and studied in ways that would otherwise be impossible. The coupling of experimental and field studies with modelling approaches opens up the potential to ask new and exciting questions about biological systems. A collaborative approach to science is central to much of the work conducted by the Complex Ecological and Evolutionary Systems research group.

Dr Andrew L Jackson

Leader of the Complex Ecological and Evolutionary Systems research group & Principal Investigator in the Ecological and Evolutionary Networks cluster, Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology Group

My research interests lie in understanding ecological systems from an evolutionary perspective.

I tend to approach these questions by using computational / mathematical models to understand how the nuts and bolts of these sytsems work. Much of my current research focuses on understanding interactions among individual animals living in close proximity. These situations are well suited to analysis and simulation in computer models where each individual animal can be represented as an automaton which interacts with its local neighbours or physico-chemical environment according to some simple set of rules.

Recently I have been working on group foraging behaviour when food is scarce and have been particularly interested in vultures as a theme with considerable conservation motivation. My interests also extend to community ecology where the challenge is to understand how communities of organisms and species compete and interact with what is often a self-organising and stable system. I have several projects running at the moment on a variety of topics.