7/10/07 CMOP Seminars: Carlos Robles from CEA-CREST

This seminar was presented July 10, 3:00PM.

Title: A spatially explicit population model of a littoral predator-prey system: simulations, tests, and proposals for collaborative research

Abstract: The complex dynamics that determine the distribution and abundance of marine populations can be expressed as an interplay between self-organizing processes and external forcing. Dr. Robles will present a spatially explicit population model that realistically simulates the spatial structure of mussel beds on rocky shores of the Pacific Northwest. Self-organizing processes involve the effects of mussel clumping on the recruitment and survival of juveniles exposed to size-dependant predation. External forcing mechanisms include the effect of submergence duration (tides) and hydrodynamic stresses (wave action) on mussel recruitment and predator foraging.

Dr. Robles will conclude by proposing how this project and others of the CEA-CREST program could serve as the basis for coupled physical-population models that could drive research into the consequences of climate change for communities of the coastal margin.

Biosketch: Dr. Carlos Robles is Professor of Biological Sciences, California State University at Los Angeles. Dr. Robles is the Director of the Center for Environmental Analysis (CEA-CREST), an environmental science institute established in 1998 with sponsorship of the National Science Foundation. CEA-CREST research explores such diverse topics as California coastal watershed contamination, Biogeochemical cycling in headwaters if the Los Angeles Aqueduct, dolphin genetic stock changes incurred by the tuna fishery, and atmospheric carbon flux of arid woodlands. Under Dr. Robles’ Direction, CEA-CREST has become a nationally recognized model for diversity-focused education, reaching out to pre-college students and placing numerous graduates from underrepresented groups in Ph.D. programs and government agency positions.

Dr. Robles’ research focuses on the development of ecological theory for marine intertidal communities. He received a B.A. in Biology in 1973 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph. D. in Zoology in 1979 from the University of California at Berkeley.

Seminar Location: OGI School of Science & Engineering, Paul Clayton Building, Room 401.