Martin Eriksson

About me

I have a general interest in mathematical and theoretical biology, especially theoretical evolutionary ecology.

I took my doctoral degree at the University of Gothenburg. In my doctoral thesis, I used spatially explicit population genetics modelling to improve the theoretical understanding of local adaptation (and the limits to local adaptation) along environmental gradients. I was particularly interested in the limits to local adaptation in extreme environments, such as at the edges of species’ ranges.

Here at CEC at Lund University, I am studying how land-use changes affect the evolution of pollinating insects and their mutualistic interactions with agricultural crops.

My research

As the human population is growing, there is an increasing demand for efficient large-scale food production. However, intensive farming can have a negative impact on the biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. For example, the number of wild pollinating insects has declined during the last decades, and it is likely that one of the main reasons for this is the increased intensification of agriculture.

The decline in pollinating insects, such as bumblebees and butterflies, is worrying because, in addition to having a value in themselves, wild pollinating insects contribute with valuable ecosystem services. For instance, insect pollination is favourable or essential to produce many kinds of fruits and vegetables. This dilemma leads us to ask whether it is possible to maintain sufficient agricultural productivity while preserving pollination services provided by insects. An important step to answer this question is to better understand the long-term effects of land-use changes, such as agricultural intensification, on pollinators and their interactions with crops.

Modelling can help us predict both short- and long-term consequences of land-use changes on insect populations and on the plants that insects pollinate. In ecological models, it has traditionally been assumed that evolution is occurring sufficiently slowly that it can be neglected. However, evidence is accumulating that insects have the potential for rapid evolution. A more complete understanding of how land-use changes affect pollinating insects can therefore be achieved by an improved understanding of how interactions between insects and crops evolve over time as the insects develop novel adaptations as a response to the changes in the landscape.

In my research, I use mathematical modelling and computer simulations to investigate how land-use changes affect the evolution of pollinating insects and their ecological interactions with crops that benefit from pollination.