Speaker
Description
Modeling coral ecosystems in a theoretical framework typically focuses on tradeoffs between coral, algae, and grazing fish populations, highlighting its bistable dynamics; however, spatial understanding of this system is often suppressed. Analysis of models with spatial features is crucial, as degraded, patchy reef systems become more common, and the size, clustering, or overall connectivity of these patches play a key role in the persistence and the emergent dynamics. More broadly, the implications of spatial heterogeneity and connectivity in systems with alternative stable states are complex and underexplored. In this work, we explore the long term dynamics, through both numerical and mathematical analysis, of a spatial model of a coral ecosystem, extended to multiple reef patches. Our results explore the “mixed-blessing” that connectivity can have on coral metacommunities.
