University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Warren Porter
Professor
Zoology
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Host: Catherine Badgley, Assistant Professor, EEB, Residential College, Museum of Paleontology, Department of Geological Sciences
Host department: EEBhttp://www.zoology.wisc.edu/faculty/Por/Por.html

Abstract
This talk will describe a set of mechanistic microclimate and animal computer models, Niche Mapper™, that have been extensively lab and field tested for representative amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and a disease bearing mosquito. The models operate at local and landscape scales. The models use principles from heat and mass transfer engineering, morphology, physiology and behavior to calculate food and water requirements, potential for growth and reproduction, activity patterns, landscape utilization and movement patterns and distribution limits. Lately we have been using the models to calculate impacts of climate change and the consequences of evolutionary change that modify distribution limits. We are now modifying the models to accommodate marine organisms like the leatherback sea turtle. I will describe new state-of-the-art technologies for defining the morphology and animating it to study how climate change will alter their potential distribution.