March 24, 2023
Contact: Sarah Day
Summary
{{https://www.bates.edu/faculty-expertise/profile/laura-s-storch/, Laura Storch}} (Bates College)
Full Description
Title: Early warning signals of extinction: A role for algebraic topology in ecological forecasting
Abstract: Many populations and ecosystems are experiencing decline due to habitat degradation, global climate change, and increasing human pressures such as overfishing. Populations undergoing decline can experience a critical transition - an abrupt, irreversible shift in the dynamics of the population. It is particularly challenging to detect critical transitions in spatial populations, e.g., a grassland. Here, we use computational algebraic topology to quantify features in a landscape and observe how those features change over time during a critical transition such as an extinction event. In this way, we identify topological signatures of impending population collapse.
