Theory-driven analysis for ecological data

FRB-CESAB & GdR TheoMoDive training course

Vincent Calcagno https://vcalcagnoresearch.wordpress.com/ (INRAE Institut Sophia Agrobiotech)https://www6.paca.inrae.fr/institut-sophia-agrobiotech , Emanuel A. Fronhofer https://www.emanuelfronhofer.net/ (CNRS ISEM)https://isem-evolution.fr/en/ , Isabelle Gounand https://isabellegounand.wordpress.com/ (CNRS iEES-Paris)https://iees-paris.fr/teams/dynamics-of-ecological-networks/ , Claire Jacquet https://clairejacquet.weebly.com/ (CNRS ISEM)https://isem-evolution.fr/en/ , Sonia Kéfi https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=JcRmX4EAAAAJ&hl=fr (CNRS ISEM)https://isem-evolution.fr/en/ , François Massol https://sites.google.com/a/polytechnique.org/francoismassol/home (CNRS iEES-Paris)https://iees-paris.fr/teams/dynamics-of-ecological-networks/
03-25-2025

  Pre-registration opens each spring and training course is provided each winter. Subscribe to the FRB-CESAB newsletter to stay informed. More information is available on the FRB-CESAB website.


The objective of this five-day workshop, co-organized by the FRB-CESAB and the GdR TheoMoDive is to train young researchers in building and analyzing mathematical models that will help them better understand ecological data. By contrast with purely statistical models, this course emphasizes a process-driven approach based on ecological theory. The course covers a general introduction to ecological modeling and thematic sessions focused on three topics of interest (time series, spatial data, interaction networks). Each topic is explored through mathematical models as well as inferential and predictive approaches, with a mix of courses and practical.

N.B. This training course is in English and slides are available in the tab Courses/.


Program

Monday Speakers: Isabelle Gounand, Sonia Kéfi & Vincent Calcagno
Icebreaker & Introduction to the week

Mathematical modeling & Theory
Guest seminar by Sally Otto (Univ. of British Columbia, Canada)
Tuesday Speakers: Emanuel Fronhofer & Peter Kamal

Temporal series and dynamics in ecology
Guest seminar by Benjamin Rosenbaum (iDiv, Germany)
Wednesday Speakers: Vincent Calcagno & Quentin Petitjean

Spatial data, macro-ecology and co-occurrences

Guest seminar by Davide Martinetti (INRAE, Avignon)
Thursday Speakers: François Massol & Claire Jacquet

Interaction networks, trophic networks & complexity

Guest seminar by Matthieu Barbier (CIRAD, Montpellier & INTP)

Guest seminar by Sonia Kéfi (CNRS ISEM, Montpellier)
Friday Subgroups projects


Summary of the course


Prerequisites

For this course, you need to install R and RStudio (optional).

You also need to install the R package RStan.


See also

Discover the other training courses provided by the FRB-CESAB and its partners: https://frbcesab.github.io/content/courses.html

Citation

Calcagno V, Fronhofer EA, Gounand I, Jacquet C, Kéfi C & Massol F (2025) FRB-CESAB & GdR TheoMoDive training course: Theory-driven analysis for ecological data.

Corrections

If you see mistakes or want to suggest changes, please create an issue on the source repository.

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Text and figures are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0. Source code is available at https://github.com/theodatasci/theodatasci.github.io, unless otherwise noted. The figures that have been reused from other sources don't fall under this license and can be recognized by a note in their caption: "Figure from ...".