We build mathematical models to investigate different questions from ecology and evolution and analyze these with analytical, numerical and simulation techniques. A large part of the work in our lab aims at understanding how ecology and evolution interact in the evolution and maintenance of biological diversity.
We use analytical and numerical techniques as well as individual-based computer simulations to analyze our models. A key-tool in our research is phenotypic modeling based on the adaptive dynamics approach. Adaptive dynamics refers to a set of techniques designed to study evolutionary change under frequency-dependent selection. The most important feature of adaptive dynamics is that the fitness-value of a specific trait or allele is not assumed a priori but is derived from an explicit ecological scenario accounting for diverse feedbacks between the evolving organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment. Adaptive dynamics can be viewed as a dynamic and ecologically explicit extension of evolutionary game theory.