Explaining Biodiversity: Niches, Complex

This course presents a survey of the foundational theories of biodiversity and an introduction to the mathematics of these theories. Though we partially understand the diversity of species on earth, we are unable to explain why there are so many species. There are numerous theories that try to explain the enigma of biodiversity. These theories have touched on exciting fields of mathematics: complex systems, chaos, and neutral theory. Students from applied math and ecology/biology backgrounds are especially encouraged in this course, the latter even if they do not have extensive mathematical background. For those familiar with mathematics, this class will teach how to leverage mathematics in interesting models that have both popular and scientific appeal. For those with more biological expertise, this class emphasizes building mathematical skills especially in the context of ecology. This class discusses the theories behind complex systems, chaos, and neutral theory, but focuses on reading the papers and monographs in which these theories are used. The papers selected for this class show how complex mathematical topics were explained elegantly and engagingly enough to enter the popular imagination and scientific debate.