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Stochastic Spatial Models of Plant Diseases
Student-Run Research| Speaker: | Dr. David Brown, UC Davis |
| Location: | 693 Kerr |
| Start time: | Mon, Jan 28 2002, 11:00AM |
Description
Infectious diseases play an important role in
natural plant populations. Because disease transmission
is localized in space, spatial structure at the scale
of individual plants can be an important factor in
determining the epidemiology and evolution of pathogens.
I will present two stochastic spatial models that address
basic problems in plant disease ecology. I will show
how the dynamics can be approximated by systems of
differential or integrodifferential equations, derived
by means of moment closures or pair approximations.
These approximations allow us to explore parameter space
efficiently, shedding light on how spatial structure determines
plant disease dynamics and evolution.