...your regular reminder that all models are wrong, but some are delicious! π
Our next #LunchBoxModels #seminar is scheduled for Wednesday (March 25) at 12 CET. Nicolas Loeuille (IEES Paris) will talk about the effects of spatial heterogeneity on eco-evolutionary dynamics (and its implications from a management point of view).
See you at lunch! π
More info here:
https://www.yomos.org/lunchbox-models-seminar-series
Hey Young Modellers π¦ , this is a short reminder that applications for this year's π YoMos workshop on Sylt π from 25th to 29th of May are open until the end of this week (incl.15th of March, 2026)!
Find out more about the workshop and a link to the registration form here: https://www.yomos.org/next-workshop
Please spread this among your students and peers! Thanks π¦π
#ecology #workshop #phdlife #modelling #theoreticalecology #yomos #yomos2026
RE: https://ecoevo.social/@YoMosEco/116102900578829692
Are you a BSc/MSc/PhD student interested in #EcologicalModelling and/or #TheoreticalEcology ? Then don't think twice, this ππ» is certainly THE meeting to atttend.
RE: https://ecoevo.social/@MaxSchmid/116101888335981709
Congratulations Max!!!! π€©
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#ecoevo
...your regular reminder that all models are wrong, but some are delicious! π
Our next #LunchBoxModels #seminar is scheduled for Wednesday (Feb 25) at 12 CET. Boris SchrΓΆder-Esselbach (TU Berlin) will talk about #EcologicalModelling and how it provides key contributions to coastal #EcosystemServices and the restoration of seagrass meadows. Don't think twice, join us! π
More info here:
https://www.yomos.org/lunchbox-models-seminar-series
π¨ Save the date! π¨
The next @YoMosEco / #YoMos workshop for young modellers in ecology will be held from 25th-29th May at the AWI Guesthouse MΓΆbius on the island Sylt. Are you a BSc/MSc/PhD student interested in #EcologicalModelling and/or #TheoreticalEcology? Then don't think twice, this is certainly THE meeting to atttend.
More info:
https://www.yomos.org/next-workshop
...and another quick reminder that all models are wrong, but some are delicious! π
Our next #LunchBoxModels #seminar is scheduled for Wednesday (Jan 28) at 12 CET. Elisa Thebault (Sorbonne UniversitΓ© de Paris) will talk about species diversity, food web structure and ecosystem stability. Don't think twice, join us! π
More info here:
https://www.yomos.org/lunchbox-models-seminar-series
#TheoreticalEcology, #ComputationalEcology, #EcologicalModelling, #ecology, #FoodWebs #EcologicalNetworks
π¨ new #preprint online π¨
Rapid evolution in response to changing environmental conditions is often considered beneficial, as it can help species to persist in changing environments. However, evolution can also be detrimental. 1st author Simon Leoz examines eco-evolutionary dynamics of competitive systems and finds a case of evolutionary murder, where rapid evolution of one species drives another one towards extinction.
#TheoreticalEcology
#EvolutionaryRescue
#EcoEvo
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.14.699340v1.full
π¨new paper published! π¨
βMany weak and few strong linksβ seems to be a common pattern in many ecological networks. 1st author Franziska Koch shows that this pattern can enable stabilising effects of network structure, using competitive hierarchies as a case study. We argue that skewed link strength distributions should hence receive more attention, especially in studies based on #RandomMatrixTheory.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12080-025-00626-7
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModelling
#EcologicalNetworks
Ecological networks tend to contain many weak and only a few strong links. Furthermore, link strengths are often patterned within a network in ways that enhance system stability considerably, increasing the ability of the system to return to equilibrium after a perturbation. However, little attention has been given to the relation between the skewed βmany weak and few strong linksβ distribution and the stabilising effect of patterning. Here, we focus on the stabilising effect of a hierarchical patterning in bryozoan competition networks and demonstrate that this stabilising effect critically depends on a skewed distribution of link strengths. We first show that, in line with many other ecological networks, the empirically derived link strengths in these competition networks were characterised by a high level of skewness, with many weak and few strong links. Then, we analysed the relationship between the link strength distributions, hierarchy and stability by comparing theoretical competition matrices with different distributions of link strengths. We found that the full stabilising effect of hierarchy only appeared when we used skewed link strengths produced by a gamma distribution, but not in matrices built with uniform or half-normal distributions. This has important methodological implications, since theoretical studies often assume normal or uniform distributions to investigate ecological stability, and therefore might overlook stabilising mechanisms. These implications are relevant for theory on the relation between structure and stability of ecological networks in general, since skewed link strengths are also a common feature of food webs and mutualistic systems.
π¨ new preprint online π¨
Fitness Landscapes of biotic INTeractions (FLINTs) shape the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of biodiversity
Two fundamental properties of life are that organisms are diverse and that organisms interact with each other. Theoretical and empirical researchers have long studied links between interactions and biodiversity, but unfortunately often separated by a substantial gap. We aim to bridge that gap! Enjoy reading!
Dr. Korinna Allhoff
Young Modellers in Ecology