Dynamics of many interacting species

In nature, organisms of different species interact, which may cause their population sizes to vary in space and time. As ecosystems often contain many species, the dynamics of high-diversity ecosystems is of primary interest in ecology.

I will review research on how statistical physics can contribute to our understanding of these dynamics. I’ll introduce some of the canonical models and theoretical frameworks. And then describe some of the resulting dynamical phases, with focus on unique, huge spatiotemporal fluctuations, and on spatial replication of complex states.