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Huffmyer_MSAThesis.pdf (3.54 MB)

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Modern Methods in Stochastic Ecological Matrix Models

Huffmyer, William Lee
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7627-6415
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1649335224151461

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Biology.
Matrix population models are a prevalent and useful tool for modeling populations in ecology. Stochasticity, meanwhile, is used in ecological modeling to reflect the natural variability in any population’s environment and demographic rates. In this thesis, I explore the role of stochasticity, or randomness, in ecological matrix models. Firstly, I use a Leslie-style matrix model to explore how variation in the carrying capacity of generalist avian predators suggests a mechanism by which developmentally synchronized cohorts of periodical cicadas, called “broods", overcome competitive exclusion by their parent brood, and thereby synchronize mass emergence in a different year. Then, I derive a method to analyze which sources of process noise contribute most strongly to state covariance in matrix models. We thus provide a method complementary to the population viability analysis that may help to reduce stochastic extinction risk, and apply the method to a species of conservation concern, the desert tortoise.
Karen Abbott (Advisor)
David Gurarie (Committee Member)
Peter Thomas (Committee Member)
Gabriella Wolff (Committee Chair)
98 p.
Applied Mathematics; Biology; Ecology
matrix population models; Leslie matrix; stochasticity; periodical cicada; competitive exclusion; generalist predator; periodicity; Allee effect; population viability analysis; edge importance; desert tortoise; extinction risk; conservation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Huffmyer, W. L. (2022). Modern Methods in Stochastic Ecological Matrix Models [Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1649335224151461

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Huffmyer, William. Modern Methods in Stochastic Ecological Matrix Models. 2022. Case Western Reserve University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1649335224151461.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Huffmyer, William. "Modern Methods in Stochastic Ecological Matrix Models." Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1649335224151461

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1649335224151461
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This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.