Research Question: Global change can rewire food webs and impact biodiversity in the
process. A well-studied example is the classic intraguild predation food web module,
where a specialist consumer and an omnivore predator compete for a basal resource. In
this small, tractable food web module, environmental warming can change the dominance
of consumer or predator through its effect on resource availability. Therefore, different
community states can occur along a thermal gradient without any other mechanisms. The
key question for this internship is: How do spatial structure and temperature-dependent
dispersal impact the dynamics of this model food web across a thermal gradient?
Tasks: The candidate will build a mathematical/computational model, starting from a small
landscape with two patches, and investigate the effect of asymmetric and temperature-
dependent dispersal on this food web’s dynamics. To incorporate more complex spatial
structure, the candidate will then explore stylized networks like ring or star landscapes and
investigate the effect of (thermal) network topology on these dynamics. Extensions to
stochastic systems, larger landscapes and food webs are possible.
Qualifications: The candidate should be comfortable communicating in English, be
confident in R, and willing to learn the basics of C++.
Administration: The standard CNRS gratification (~650€/month) is provided, as well
as office space and computing power.
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