IMET Seminar: Dr. Vadim Karatayev

Dr. Vadim Karatayev, William J. Higgins Assistant Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park

Title: Resilience of large ecosystems under global change

Abstract: A big challenge is understanding the impacts of global change on large ecosystems. First, I will show how combining satellite data, diver surveys, and process-based models reveals that warmer ocean climates trigger urchin overgrazing and kelp forest loss in southern California and Mexico. Second, once we know best environmental mitigation strategies, I will discuss how slow stakeholder adoption of mitigation risks societies becoming complacent with degrading ecosystems. Third, I will show how population models fitted to large-scale field data reveals a 28-38% decline in the ecosystem impacts of invasive quagga mussels that currently comprise 95% of the biomass of the Great Lakes. Together, these studies show how big data and mechanistic models can help us anticipate and avert ecosystem collapse in future climates, and how to get stakeholders to adopt effective conservation strategies quickly.