Learning outcomes

Understand the basic principles of stability analysis of populations and communities;
Apply the basic techniques to quantify the stability of populations and communities;
Use the acquired skills to, as part of a team, solve a problem offered by the teachers during the course.
Read, digest, and present scientific documents on the topic of the course;
Soft skills: working in groups, project management; communication in French and English.

Goals

Familiarise the student with the basic principles of stability analysis of populations and communities;
Learn the students to apply techniques to quantify stability;
Let the student apply these techniques as part of a team to solve a problem about ecosystem perturbations.

Content

First, students are asked to read and study the basics of stability analysis. Then, a session is scheduled in which teachers answer students' questions about the material read and evaluate in how well the material was understood. Next, students are introduced to a problem and given time to work through that problem as members of a team of students. Meetings are scheduled between students and staff during the course. where potential issues that impede problem solving are discussed.
To solve these problems, the tools used by the students are:
· Use of RStudio (and Rmarkdown) to build models to perform simulations;
· More mathematical approaches to studying systems analytically.
 

 

Table of contents

Introduction: definitions, motivation of the course
Self-study of the topic by the students;
Introduction to the problem;
Q&A sessions and progress meetings.

Exercices

Application of several techniques to quantify stability. The students will be given one or more problems on the broad topic of stability in populations/communities. They will apply the techniques seen in the theoretical course to solve this/these problem(s).
Sessions of computational exercises: during these sessions the students will work on their projects

Assessment method

Continuous evaluation. Assessment based on:
1 / their active participation in the course (30%);
2/ the group's final report (55%);
3 / their level of professionalism (respecting deadlines, polite and open communication, constructive attitude) (15%)
 
The "transversal skills" will be assessed when evaluating these 3 aspects
At the beginning of the course, students receive a list of criteria detailing these three aspects. This list includes, for the "active participation" aspect, elements such as the student's involvement in group work and discussions, his participation in global reflection, his ability to ask himself questions and to try to find solutions. The "degree of professionalism", for its part, takes up criteria such as, for example, compliance with deadlines and instructions (in session but also when writing the report), the constructive attitude of the student or his polite and open communication.

Sources, references and any support material

Various scientific papers .
Powerpoint slides
Models will also be made available to the students, these are coded in R.
Otto and Day. A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution. Princeton, 2007.
All these materials can be found on WebCampus

Language of instruction

Anglais