Theory of the Spread of Epidemics and Movement Ecology of Animals

Exploiting powerful techniques from physics and mathematics, this book studies animal movement in ecology, with a focus on epidemic spread. Pulmonary syndrome is not only feared in epidemics of recent times, such as COVID-19, but is also characteristic of epidemics studied earlier such as Hantavirus. The Hantavirus is one of the book's central topics. Correlations between epidemic outbreaks and precipitation events like El Niño are analyzed and spatial reservoirs of infection in off-period of the epidemic, known as refugia, are studied. Predicted traveling waves of infection are successfully compared to field observations. Territoriality in scent-marking animals is presented, with parallels drawn with the theory of melting. The flocking and herding of birds and mammals are described in terms of collective excitations. For scientists interested in movement ecology and epidemic spread, this book provides effective solutions to long-standing problems.

• Sophisticated, analytical techniques from statistical mechanics and nonlinear science such as Fokker-Planck methods, bifurcation formalism, and Smoluchowski analysis are introduced to the field of ecology
• Theoretical research is grounded alongside real-world ecological field observations
• Physics concepts seldom used in ecology, such as collective excitations and the theory of melting, are used in the book