[Seminar] Determining ecosystem vulnerability through meta-analysis of empirical food webs

Speaker

Prof. Karol Opara: Assistant professor at the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Abstract

Food webs describe the feeding relations between organisms. They allow for investigating the stability and complexity of ecosystems. Previous research relied on theoretical models or examined only a few networks. Various studies used disparate measures of food web complexity (structure) and stability (or vulnerability). We address these limitations by assembling the world’s most comprehensive database of 242 geographically and taxonomically diverse weighted, aquatic, empirical food webs. We systematically quantify the relationships across indicators of their structure and vulnerability. The talk will focus on operationalizing the notion of vulnerability, identifying pairwise and multiple relations, and evaluating their robustness and predictive power. 

Biosketch

Karol Opara is a computer scientist specializing in global optimization theory and applied data science. His research ranges from evolutionary algorithms through transportation infrastructure monitoring to telemedicine. He is currently an assistant professor at the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Zoom Info

• Meeting URL: https://oist.zoom.us/j/94799400298
• Meeting ID: 947 9940 0298