Acanthaster and the Coral Reef: A Theoretical Perspective : Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, (Lecture Notes in Biomathematics)
Book Description: The mathematical analysis of an outbreaking species, the crown-of-thorns starfish found on Indo-Pacific coral reefs was the central topic that brought together mathematicians, ecologists and oceanographers in an attempt to create a new paradigm for understanding this complex phenomenon. A wide variety of mathematical approaches was offered in the workshop, from traditional qualitative stability analysis to work on Finsler spaces, grammars and adaptive systems. Together they point to a new understanding of the dynamics of the outbreaks and of the stability of the coral reef ecosystems in which they occur.