SCIENCE AT THE EDGE SEMINAR QB/GEDD Friday, February 8 at 11:30am Room 1400 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg. Refreshments at 11:15 Ethan White Department of Biology and The Ecology Center Utah State University, Logan, UT Testing a General Theory of Macroecology Using Big Data Macroecology involves characterizing and explaining statistical patterns of the abundance, distribution, and diversity of species. These patterns can yield insights into the processes governing the behavior of ecological systems and allow predictions to be made in the absence of detailed understanding of the processes structuring an ecosystem. I will discuss research in my lab testing a general theory of macroecology, the Maximum Entropy Theory of Ecology, which posits that many macroecological patterns are emergent statistical phenomena. If this theory is correct, it would mean that the form of many common patterns in ecology could be unlocked simply by knowing the total number of individuals and species in a system. To provide the most general test of the theory possible we compare it to large ecological datasets containing thousands of sites and species, and millions of individuals. Helen Geiger, Administrative Assistant Quantitative Biology Graduate Program and Gene Expression in Development and Disease Biochemistry 603 Wilson Road, Room 212 East Lansing, MI 48824 Email: [log in to unmask] Phone: 517-432-9895 QB Website: http://www.qbi.msu.edu/ GEDD Website: http://www.gedd.msu.edu/