Population dynamics is a topic in ecology and evolutionary biology that investigates the temporal and spatial variation in population size, structure, and composition, and the processes that drive these changes. It focuses on birth, death, immigration, and emigration rates and their dependence on intrinsic factors (e.g., life-history traits, density dependence, genetic structure) and extrinsic factors (e.g., climate, resources, species interactions). Quantitative population dynamics research employs mathematical and statistical models—such as exponential, logistic, and age-structured models, matrix population models, and stochastic simulations—to analyze stability, persistence, extinction risk, and responses to environmental perturbations or management interventions.
A 50% decline in the Gulf of Carpentaria dugong population estimate is a wake-up call for urgent action to protect dugongs in the Gulf, based on surveys undertaken by researchers from James Cook University, Charles Darwin ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2026
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11
A study published in the journal Oikos, titled "Forecasting the impact of food-provisioning and other stressors on a marine top-predator population," found that without protective management, the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2026
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12
Age isn't just a number for one of the ocean's top apex predators. It's a mystery University of Georgia researchers are solving. A new UGA study has determined how to estimate the age of sharks by analyzing changes to individual ...
Ecology
Aug 21, 2026
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15
A new study led by researchers at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin shows that Berlin's dragonfly populations have declined by more than half since 1963, while populations of frogs, toads and newts have fallen by more than ...
Ecology
Aug 18, 2026
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7
Every year, about 50 million metric tons of plastic is dumped into the environment. This waste entangles, chokes and poisons wildlife worldwide, including sable shearwaters living on the remote Australian island of Lord Howe. ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 18, 2026
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13
How many sharks should a coral reef have? It sounds like a simple question, but almost nowhere on Earth is there a reef that has not at some time been fished or otherwise affected by humans, so there is no yardstick against ...
Ecology
Aug 13, 2026
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94
A new study by Bournemouth University (BU) has found that faster recovery of osprey populations relies on a small number of ospreys that, unlike most, prefer to nest away from others of the same species. These birds have ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 13, 2026
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11
After tropical cyclones, communities are often left in upheaval. Those that had few resources to begin with tend to be especially vulnerable to external stresses, and people often experience homelessness, health problems ...
Environment
Aug 4, 2026
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7
A study published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (JSTAT), inspired by the behavior of bacterial colonies observed in previous experiments, uses mathematical models to describe the expansion ...
Ecology
Aug 3, 2026
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12
A new study involving the University of Cambridge has found that road traffic kills between 15% and 29% of hedgehogs in local populations each year.
Plants & Animals
Jul 31, 2026
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