Current Research: Roger Nisbet

The objective of my research is to develop general theory describing the growth and regulation of biological populations. I make extensive use of individual-based population models that relate population dynamics to the physiology and behavior of individual members of a population. These models have been applied in many specific projects including the study of:

• Fluctuations in zooplankton populations
• Stability and fluctuations in host-parasitoid systems
• The response of open populations to environmental gradients
• The effects of toxicants on population dynamics

However, my overriding aim is to elucidate general principles, individual systems being studied in order to obtain insight on general principles with wide applicability.

Much of the research is conducted in collaboration with experimental and field ecologists at UCSB and elsewhere. I have strong external grant support, with funding from NSF, ONR, EPA, US Minerals Management Service, and the UC Toxics Program. This has enabled me to support several outstanding post-doctoral researchers and graduate students, and to sustain collaborations with investigators from other Universities.

Some of my recent research also features as case studies in the textbook "Ecological Dynamics" by Bill Gurney and myself.

Book

Gurney, W.S.C and Nisbet, R.M. (1998). " Ecological Dynamics". Oxford University Press, New York.

Roger Nisbet | Research | Publications | Curriculum Vitae

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