Welcome to the web site for Gruppo Popolazione, the laboratory of Loo Botsford at the University of California Davis. This site describes the research projects in progress, courses being taught, the researchers and past publications. The focus of our research is the application of age, size and spatially structured population models to practical problems, usually problems in marine conservation of fisheries. We have found over the years that it is necessary to do a bit of field work to better understand critical aspects of dynamics, and most of that involves ocean influences on larval transport and estimation of vital rates from size distributions. We also try to learn as much as possible from past data through retrospective analysis. That work is primarily calculations of the degree of covariability between environmental and biological variables.

Partnership for Education in Marine Resource and Ecosystem Management: P.E.M.R.E.M.