Aim for Advancement

Populations are the central ecological and evolutionary units of all ecosystems. Over time, ecosystem diversity and function change as populations increase or decrease in size, become fragmented, go extinct, adapt to changing conditions, and generate new species.

The UC Davis Center for Population Biology (CPB) aims to advance understanding of the fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes that control the origins and maintenance of biological diversity, at all levels of organization ranging from molecules to ecosystems.

Integrating the most advanced molecular, genetic, demographic, mathematical, computational, and experimental approaches, scientists in the CPB are working to solve some of life's fundamental mysteries concerning the origin and persistence of new genetic systems, the history of life on Earth, and the maintenance of biodiversity.  CPB researchers are also providing insights into major issues facing society in medicine, environmental sciences, and agriculture.