As part of the CBA-supported Gen3sis workshop, Oskar Hagen from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), will be giving a general talk on the history of modelling biodiversity and its change across space and time. This talk is open to all.

Talk abstract

In this presentation, we will begin by tracing the arc from German Romanticism's view of nature to the rise of computational models for understanding biodiversity. Inspired by Goethe and other Romantic thinkers, nature transitioned from being seen as a static complex entity to a dynamic, interconnected whole. This holistic perspective laid the intellectual foundation for many of today’s most influential theories in the life sciences, bridging the poetic and even mythical vision of nature’s unity with the systematic precision of modern computational approaches.

For most of the talk, we will delve into iconic latitudinal and longitudinal biodiversity patterns, such as greater species diversity near the equator, and the lower species richness in African rainforests compared to other tropical regions in South America and Asia. This exploration takes place in the context of rapidly growing data but also increasingly fragmented knowledge within modern science.

You will be briefly introduced to the intricacies of recent computational methods, i.e. gen3sis - a general engine for eco-evolutionary simulations - and get a glimpse into how such tools can be used to explore iconic biodiversity patterns and potentially many others; while fostering an integrative science.

About Oskar

Oskar Hagen, is an evolutionary biologist, computer modeler, and environmental scientist at iDiv, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research. His research focus is on spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity, particularly using population-based spatially explicit mechanistic eco-evolutionary models (aka MEEMs) to simulate emergent life patterns. This involves using population and community ecology, macroecology, biogeography, historical ecology, evolution, macroevolution, paleontology, geology and climatology.

Oskar's visit is funded by the Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, hosted by Alex Skeels (ANU). Please get in touch with Alex if you would like to meet with Oskar during his time in Canberra.