Michael Bonsall

Reader in Zoology; University Lecturer in Mathematical Biology

Tutor for Biological Sciences, St. Peter’s College

 

Research Interests

I am interested in population biology (population dynamics, community ecology, evolutionary ecology). Research in the group focuses on a wide range of questions such as the population and evolutionary dynamics of life history strategies (e.g. the evolution of longevity), the role of spatial structure on shared enemy and competing enemy interactions, the effects of enrichment on the diversity of ecological communities, the interplay between noise and dynamics in multispecies interactions and the evolution of resistance to microbes. Many of these projects involve the development of theoretical models in conjunction with experiments or observations in the field or laboratory. To this end, we aim to test different ecological and evolutionary ecology theories by fitting relevant mathematical models to appropriate ecological experimental (or observational) data. Further details of my research interests can be found here.

Additional Information

I am currently a member of DEFRA Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) and the Royal Society's Equality and Diversity Committee. I am a subject editor for Proceedings B, Ecology Letters and Theoretical Ecology.

 

As part of the Darwin 200 celebrations, I was involved in co-organising a discussion meeting at the Royal Society on 'Genetics and the causes of evolution' (November 2009). The Philosophical Transactions issue is now available from here: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/site/2010/darwin_150.xhtml

 

Contacts

Email: michael.bonsall@zoo.ox.ac.uk
 

Websites

 

Selected Publications

  • Bonsall, MB, Raymond, B 2008 Lethal pathogens, non-lethal synergists and the evolutionary ecology of resistance. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 254, 339-349.
  • Mangel, M, Bonsall, MB 2008 Phenotypic evolutionary models in stem cell biology: replacement, quiescence, and variability. PLoS ONE 3, e1591
  • Klug, H, Bonsall, MB 2007. When to care for, abandon, or eat your offspring: the evolution of parental care and filial cannibalism. American Naturalist, 170 886-901.
  • Bonsall, MB 2006 Longevity and ageing: appraising the evolutionary consequences of growing old. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society, Series B, 361: 119-135.
  • Bonsall, MB, Jansen, VAA, Hassell, MP 2004. Life history trade-offs assemble ecological guilds. Science 306: 111-114.