Mathematical Ecology: A Century of Progress, and Challenges for the Next Century

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  Mathematical Ecology: A Century of Progress, and Challenges for the Next Century
  Simon Levin

  Mathematical ecology is one of the oldest and most successful branches of mathematical biology, and one that has profited both ecology and mathematics. The great mathematician Volterra was a pioneer a century ago, and the subject has built on the dynamical systems approaches he introduced. As attention has turned to the ecological challenges of the present- climate change, biodiversity loss, critical transitions and the management of the global commons, new methods have entered from stochastic processes to game theory, from statistical physics to topological data analysis, and with a heavy emphasis on high-speed computation.  In this talk, I will trace out some of the historic successes, and introduce modern challenges.