Event Description: Colleen Webb, Biology Department, Colorado State University The Role of Spatial Modularity In Ecoststem Robustness In a general context, robustness in complex adaptive systems may be enhanced by intermediate levels of modularization. When thinking about ecosystems and spatial structure, this translates most simply to the level of aggression or clustering of individuals. I will discuss results from spatial simulations of how structure affects ecosystem recovery following a spatially spreading disturbance. The amount of clustering in my simulations is controlled by the probability that individuals disperse locally versus randomly. My results suggest that the amount of random dispersal interacts with growth rate in determining maximum robustness. This is due both to the higher realized birthrate with partial random dispersal and to the changes it brings about in the spatial structure. The application of percolation theory and analytical approximation in this context will also be discussed.
| 
