Dr. Anieke van Leeuwen

I try to understand the dynamics of fish communities by describing their entire life cycle in mathematical terms. That is relevant, for example, for determining realistic fishing quotas. By catching the eggs, larvae, young fish and adult animals, as well as their food and the reproduction of a fish species, in a mathematical formula, I can very accurately determine how the various factors are connected to each other. In the Baltic Sea, I revealed that cod helps to keep the population of their prey, sprat, healthy. If we catch too many cod, then so many young sprat remain alive that they get in each other’s way. Too few individuals grow large enough to produce newborn sprat.