Research
I am currently working on unveiling ecological mechanisms that facilitate the long-term stability of metapopulations. In particular, I want to know how organisms respond and adapt to changes in the environment and how these responses subsequently affect ecological network dynamics.
Research projects
I am currently a member of the consortium regarding the HFSP Project on organism response to perturbations.
The project realizes a unique international collaboration that bridges ecology, evolution, microbiology, and statistical physics.
Within the context of the project, I will be focusing on creating mathematical models that closely resemble population dynamics of microbiomes under the influence of perturbations.
I will implement efficient simulations (mostly in Julia) to explore the space of parameters that influences community dynamics.
Furthermore, I will apply my vast experience with scientific computing to write a cohesive set of scripts that faciliate large computer simulations on high performance computer clusters.
This will facilitate all members of this project to execute simulations and complex analyses, greatly enhancing the turnover rate.
Latest works
J. Nauta and M. De Domenico (2024).
"Topological conditions drive stability in meta-ecosystems".
⤷ We study the effect of dispersal on (linear) stability in meta-ecosystems. Dispersal takes place on a connected network with arbitrary degree distributions. Our work shows that there are three distinct features that underlie stability: edge density, tendency to triadic closure, and isolation. It further highlights that one cannot disregard properties of the dispersal network when studying stability of meta-ecosystems.
J. Nauta et al. (2022).
"Foraging behavior and patch size distribution jointly determine population dynamics in fragmented landscapes".
J.R.Soc. Interface 19.
⤷ We study landscape fragmentation and its affect on foraging strategy. Using a lattice Monte Carlo approach we show that foragers that perform scale-free random walks can reduce, but not prevent or minimze, the amount of habitat that is irreversibly lost.