Robert M Ewers believes there is an opportunity to merge organismal physiology with ecology to develop a relatively simple set of rules that can explain and predict how ecosystems work.

Ecology has benefited from tremendous advances over the past decade that give fundamental insight into how ecosystems work, yet much of our understanding is fragmented rather than connected.

At the same time, basic ecophysiology has provided fundamental insight into the metabolism and nutrient needs of individual organisms.

In this seminar, Robert M Ewers will argue that a focus on the basic physiology of individual plants, animals, and microbes can scale up through simple rules to explain many of the dynamics of ecosystems. He will describe how these basic rules can explain emergent patterns of competition, species interactions, movement, behaviour, population demography, community dynamics, and even biogeochemical cycles.

If you are an external guest and want to participate, please write an email to