June 2005

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF COASTAL ECOLOGY

Speaker: Professor Girija Jayaraman

Date: 23 JUNE 2005; 4-5pm

Venue: CZ Meeting Room, SOC1-07-04

Abstract
Sustainable management of the ecological resources of the coastal areas requires a detailed understanding and prediction of the behaviour of the coastal ecosystems. Traditionally, ecological studies have kept the organisms as the focus of their attention and considered them in relation to other organisms and the environment. There is an increasing awareness that it is necessary to add an extra dimension by considering the ecosystem in which physical, chemical and biological components are equally important. In a coastal environment, physical processes create conditions for biological processes. Fortunately, hydrodynamic models have been under development for many years and have reached a high level of sophistication. Coupled with the data obtained from satellite imaging and automated sensors, it is increasingly possible to collect biological data at a resolution comparable to physical data. So, for a holistic study of the factors influencing coastal processes, it is feasible to construct reliable ecological models and couple them with hydrodynamic models.

This lecture gives an overview of ecological models in general and applications to coastal processes in particular. Models based on a system of ordinary differential equations (rate equations) which relate to interaction of species and treat temporal variation are first explained. The process of biological diffusion which is responsible for pattern formation is presented through a spatio temporal model. The coupling between hydrodynamic models and ecological models is explained through basic equations referred as coupled physicobiological models. Finally, our investigations based on modelling studies, corresponding to the ecology of Chilika Lake (which is Asia's largest salt water lagoon is located in India) are presented as a case study. (http://www.indiawildliferesorts.com/wildlife-sanctuaries/chilka-lake-santuary.html)

About the speaker
Professor Jayaraman obtained her doctoral degree from the Indian Institute of Science. She is currently working at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT, New Delhi, India. Her research interests include, Biofluid Dynamics, Applied Numerical Methods, Modelling the dynamics and ecology of lagoons, Environment and Health etc. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Science, India.

More details about the speaker can be obtained from : (http://paniit.iitd.ac.in/~jgirija/)