Dynamics of interacting species

We work in the gap between classical single-species population ecology and community ecology, studying the dynamics of interacting species in fluctuating environments. We are interested in how interacting species covary in space and time, and how their dynamics are driven by combinations of factors, such as life history, spatial movement, characteristics of their interactions, and different types of environmental stochasticity. Our work involves a combination of theoretical modeling and empirical data analysis.

Who are we?

Aline Magdalena Lee. Researcher / Associate Professor II studying the stochastic spatiotemporal dynamics of interacting species.

Elena Albertsen: Researcher working on plant-pollinator interaction in semi-natural habitats

Marie Vestergaard Henriksen. Postdoc researching land use effects on the diversity and function of pollination networks.

Ellen Claire Martin: PhD candidate studying the influence of life history characteristics on spatial population synchrony within large communities

Ragnhild Bjørkås. PhD candidate studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of interacting species.

PhD and MSc projects

Current

Ragnhild Bjørkås (PhD): Spatiotemporal dynamics of interacting species
Ellen C. Martin (PhD): Spatial population synchrony across life-history characteristics and environments
Laura Bartra Cabré (PhD): Community dynamics under the effects of extreme events: a theoretical-empirical approach
Eirik Sebastian Tessem (MSc): Analysis of a population extinction – Green-rumped parrotlets in the llanos of Venezuela
Pernille Mari Walnum (MSc): Long Term Variation in Atlantic Puffin Diet in the Norwegian Sea and Fitness Consequences

Previous

Jonatan Fredricson Marquez (PhD): Understanding spatial and interspecific processes affecting population dynamics in a marine ecosystem
Brandon Whitley (Erasmus Mundus MSc): An integrated population model methodology for incorporating the effect of inbreeding on fitness metrics in Svalbard reindeer.
Juan Pablo Ramirez Loza (Erasmus Mundus MSc): Kinship demography of a subpopulation of the Svalbard reindeer
Mikael Andreas Sætre (MSc): Climate change influences reproduction in Arctic breeding geese through altered predator-prey interactions
Simen Christen Karlsen (MSc): No evidence of overall changes in spatial population synchrony across bird species in North America
Martha Torstenson (Fulbright)
Mari Aas Fjelldal (MSc): Family planning in the high Arctic: earlier spring onset advances age at first successful reproduction in barnacle geese

Selected publications

Kroeger, S.B., Hanslin, H.M., Lennartsson, T., D'Amico, M., Kollmann, J., Fischer, C., Albertsen, E., and Speed, J.D.M. 2022. Impacts of roads on bird species richness: A meta-analysis considering road types, habitats and feeding guilds. Science of the Total Environment, 812, 151478.

Lee, A.M., Jarillo, J., Peeters, B., Hansen, B.B., Cao-García, F.J., Sæther, B.E. and Engen, S. 2022. Population responses to harvesting in fluctuating environments. Climate Research, 86:79-91

Marquez, J.F., Sæther, B.E., Aanes, S., Engen, S., Salthaug, A. and Lee, A.M. 2021. Age-dependent patterns of spatial autocorrelation in fish populations. Ecology, 102(12):e03523

Lee, A.M. and Sæther, B.E. 2022. Optimal harvesting in a changing climate. Climate Research, 86:21-27

Hansen, B.B., Grøtan, V., Herfindal, I. and Lee, A.M. (2020) The Moran effect revisited: spatial population synchrony under global warming. Ecography, 43: 1–12

Lee, A.M., Sæther, B.-E. and Engen, S. 2019. Spatial covariation of competing species in a fluctuating environment. Ecology, 101 (1): e02901

Marquez, J.F., Lee, A.M., Aanes, S., Engen, S., Herfindal, I., Salthaug, A. and Sæther, B.-E. 2019. Spatial scaling of population synchrony in marine fish depends on their life history. Ecology Letters 22, 1787-1796.

Engen, S., Lee, A.M. and Sæther, B.-E. 2018. Spatial distribution and optimal harvesting of an age-structured population in a fluctuating environment. Mathematical Biosciences 296, 36–44.

Lee, A.M., Sæther, B.-E., Markussen, S.S. and Engen, S. 2017. Modelling time to population extinction when individual reproduction is autocorrelated. Ecology Letters, 20, 1385-1394.

Lee, A.M., Reid, J.M. and Beissinger, S.R. 2017. Modelling effects of nonbreeders on population growth estimates. Journal of Animal Ecology 86, 75–87.