QLS Seminar - Monday, 6 October at 14h00 "A Statistical Physics View of Species Vulnerability in Tropical Forests and Beyond" by Davide Bernardi - University of Padua

[Quantitative Life Sciences]

Dear All,

Today,  6 October at 14:00 CET, Dr. Davide Bernardi  (Department of 
Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova) will give a seminar titled:

*"A Statistical Physics View of Species Vulnerability in Tropical 
Forests and Beyond**"

*TUnderstanding why some species persist while others vanish remains a 
central challenge in ecology. Traditional approaches either rely on 
mechanistic models that are conceptually clear but hard to apply to 
real-world scenarios, or on statistical tools that lack generality and 
interpretability. Here, we introduce a framework rooted in the 
statistical physics of complex systems but designed for ecological 
applicability. At its core is a single measurable quantity - the 
competitive balance - that synthesizes the processes shaping 
persistence: dispersal diversity, interspecific competition, and 
abundance. Without requiring direct measurement of species traits or 
detailed dispersal parameters, the metric captures how the spatial 
structure and heterogeneity of communities translate into species-level 
vulnerability. Our analyses reveal a fundamental trade-off: for a given 
rarity, greater heterogeneity in dispersal strategies reduces 
vulnerability. We validate the framework with tropical forest data, but 
its scope extends across ecosystems. By linking statistical physics with 
functional perspectives on biodiversity, this approach offers an 
interpretable and scalable tool to assess species vulnerability in the 
Anthropocene.

The seminar will take place in the Common area, Old SISSA building, 
second floor - Via Beirut, 2

Indico: https://indico.ictp.it/event/11185/

*
* You are all most welcome to attend!

Best regards,

  Erica

Erica Sarnataro
Group Secretary
Quantitative Life Sciences
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
Trieste,  Italy
Tel. +39-040-2240623
www.ictp.it/research/qls.aspx
e-mail:qls at ictp.it