Dr Andrew White

Tel: 0131 451 3222
Email: A.R.White@hw.ac.uk

My research interests focus on modelling ecological systems. This involves interdisciplinary collaborations with ecologists who provide expertise on the specific ecological systems and ensure that relevant ecological issues are being addressed.

Current research interests include:

• Population dynamics of ecological systems - Replacement of red squirrels by greys, Vole population cycles, Winter Moth and its interaction with parasites.


• Evolution in ecological systems (Adaptive Dynamics) - Evolution of disease, the importance of biological trade-offs for evolution.


• Modelling genetic diversity in forest populations - Seed and pollen dispersal models of tropical forest species.


• I am an Associate Editor of the Journal of Animal Ecology which encourages the submission of theoretical ecology research.

PhD: Start Sept/Oct 2013: Modelling Disease Carrying Invaders: Red Squirrel Conservation

Recent publications/preprints

• Tompkins, D.M. White, A & Boots, M. 2003. Ecological replacement of native red squirrels by invasive greys driven by disease. Ecology Letters. 6, 189-196. PDF COPY

• Adams, B., Carr, J., Lenton, T.M. & White, A. 2003. One-dimensional daisyworld: Spatial interactions and pattern formation. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 223, 505-513. PDF COPY

• Bowers, R.G., White, A., Boots, M., Geritz, S.A.H. & Kisdi, E. 2003. Evolutionary branching/speciation: contrasting results from systems with explicit or emergent carrying capacities. Evolutionary Ecology Research. 5, 883-891. PDF COPY

• Adams, B., White, A. & Lenton, T.M. . 2004. An analysis of some diverse approaches to modelling terrestrial net primary productivity. Ecological Modelling. 177, 353-391. PDF COPY

• Davies, S., White, A. & Lowe, A. 2004. An investigation into effects of long-distance seed dispersal on organelle population genetic structure and colonization rate: a model analysis. Heredity. 93, 566-576. PDF COPY

• Levy. P.E., Friend, A.D., White, A. & Cannell, M.G.R. 2004. The influence of land use change on global-scale fluxes of carbon from terrestrial ecosystems. Climatic Change. 67, 185-209.

• Bowers, R.G., Hoyle, A., White, A. & Boots, M. 2005. The geometric theory of adaptive evolution: trade-off and invasion plots. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 233, 363-377. PDF COPY

• White, A. & Bowers, R.G. 2005. Adaptive dynamics of Lotka-Volterra systems with trade-offs: the role of interspecific parameter dependence in branching. Mathematical Biosciences. 193, 101-117. PDF COPY

• Greenman, J.V. Benton, T.G., Boots, M., & White, A. 2005. The evolution of population dynamics in age-structured species The American Naturalist. 166, 68-78.

• Miller, M.R., White, A. & Boots, M. 2005. The evolution of host resistance: tolerance versus control. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 236, 198-207. PDF COPY

• White, A., Greenman, J.V. Benton, T.G. & Boots, M. 2006. Evolutionary behaviour in ecological systems with trade-offs and non-equilibrium population dynamics. Evolutionary Ecology Research. 8, 387-398. PDF COPY

• Smith, M., White, A., Lambin, X., Sherratt, J.A. & Begon, M. 2006. Delayed density dependent season length: a mechanism for multiannual rodent population cycles? The American Naturalist. 167: 695-704. PDF COPY

• Miller, M.R., White, A. & Boots, M. 2006. The evolution of parasites in response to tolerance in their host: The good, the bad and apparent commensalism. Evolution. 60, 945-956. PDF COPY

• Lowe, A., Unsworth, C., Gerber, S., ..., White, A. 2006. Route,speed and mode of Oak Postglacial colonisation across the British Isles: integrating molecular ecology, palaeoecology and modelling approaches. Botanical Journal of Scotland. 57, 59-81. PDF COPY

• Miller, M.R., White, A. & Boots, M. 2007. Host lifespan and the evolution of resistance characteristics. Evolution. 61, 2-14. PDF COPY

• Jones E.O., White, A. & Boots, M. 2007. Interference and the persistence of vertically transmitted parasites. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 246, 10-17. PDF COPY

• Miller, M.R., White, A., Wilson, K. & Boots, M. 2007. The dynamic implications of male--biased parasitism in different mating systems. PLOS one. 2(7), e624 PDF COPY

• Ryder, J.J , Miller, M.R., White, A., Knell, R.J. & Boots, M. 2007 Host-parasite population dynamics under combined frequency- and density-dependent transmission. Oikos. In press PDF COPY

• Smith, M., White, A., Sherratt, J.A., Telfer, S., Begon, M. & Lambin, X. 2008. Disease effects on reproduction can cause population cycles in seasonal environments. Journal of Animal Ecology. 77, 378-389. PDF COPY Supplementary Material

• Hoyle, A., Bowers, R.G., White, A. & Boots, M. 2008. The influence of trade-off shape on evolutionary behaviour in classical ecological scenarios. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 250, 498-511. PDF COPY

• Best, A., White, A. and Boots, M., 2008. The maintenance of host variation in tolerance to pathogens and parasites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105, 20786-20791. PDF COPY Supplementary Material

• Boots, M., Best, A., Miller, M. R. and White, A. 2009. The role of ecological feedbacks in the evolution of host defence: What does theory tell us? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B. 364, 27-36. PDF COPY

• Hackett-Jones, E., Cobbold, C and White, A. 2009. Coexistence of multiple parasitoids on a single host. Theoretical Ecology. 2, 19-31. PDF COPY

• Sorrell, I., White, A., Pedersen, A. B., Hails, R. S. and Boots, M. 2009. The evolution of covert, silent infection as a parasite strategy. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 276, 2217-2226. PDF COPY

• Bell, S. S., White, A., Sherratt, J.A. and Boots, M. 2009. Invading with biological weapons: the effect of shared disease on ecological invasions. Theoretical Ecology. 2, 53-66. PDF COPY

• Best, A., White, A. and Boots, M. 2009. The implications of coevolutionary dynamics to host-parasite interactions. American Naturalist. 173, 779-91. PDF COPY

• Cameron, D.D., White, A. and Antonovics, J. 2009. Parasite-grass-forb interactions and rock-paper-scissor dynamics: predicting the effects of the parasitic plant Rhinanthus minor on host plant communities. Journal of Ecology. 97 1311-1319. PDF COPY Supplementary Material

• Best, A., White, A. and Boots, M. 2010. Resistance is futile but tolerance can explain why parasites do not always castrate their hosts. Evolution. 64 348-357. PDF COPY

• Jones, E.O., White, A. and Boots, M. 2010. The evolutionary implications of conflict between parasites with different transmission modes. Evolution. 64 2408-2416. PDF COPY

• Best, A., White, A.., Kisdi, E., Antonovics, J., Brockhurst, M. and Boots, M. 2010. Evolution of host-parasite range. American Naturalist. 176 63-71. PDF COPY Supplementary Material

• Hoyle, A., Bowers, R.G. & White, A. 2011. Evolutionary Behaviour, trade-offs and cyclic and chaotic population dynamics Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 73 1154-1169. PDF COPY

• Jones, E.O., White, A. and Boots, M. 2011. The evolution of host protection by vertically transmitted parasites. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 278 863-870. PDF COPY

• Best, A., Webb, S., White, A. and Boots, M. 2011. Host resistance and coevolution in spatially structured populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 278 2216-2222. PDF COPY

• Bacelar, F.S., White, A. and Boots, M. 2011. Life history and mating systems select for male biased parasitism mediated through natural selection and ecological feedbacks. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 269 131-137. PDF COPY

• Hackett-Jones, E., White, A. and Cobbold, C. 2011. The evolution of developmental timing in natural enemy systems. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 275 1-11. PDF COPY

• Reynolds, J.J.H., White, A., Sherratt, J.A. and Boots, M. 2011. The population dynamical consequences of density-dependent prophylaxis. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 288 1-8. PDF COPY

• Reynolds, J.J.H., Massey, F.P., Lambin, X., Reidinger, S., Sherratt, J.A., Smith, M.J., White, A. and Hartley, S.E. 2012. Delayed induced silica defences in grasses and their potential for destabilising herbivore population dynamics. Oecologia. 170 445 - 456.

• Best, A., Long, G., White, A. and Boots, M. 2012. The implications of immunopathology for parasite evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 279 3234 - 3240.

• Boots, M., White, A., Best, A., Bowers, R.G. 2012. The Importance of Who Infects Whom: The Evolution of Diversity in Host Resistance to Infectious Disease. Ecology Letters. 15 1104-11.

• Taylor, R.A., Sherratt, J.A. and White, A. 2013. Seasonal Forcing and Multi-year Cycles in Interacting Populations: Lessons from a Predator-Prey Model. Journal of Mathematical Biology. In Press.

• Donnelly, R.A., Best, A., White, A., and Boots, M. 2013. Seasonality selects for more acutely virulent parasites when virulence is density dependent. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. In Press.

• Reynolds, J.J.H., Sherratt, J.A., White, A. and Lambin, X., 2013. A comparison of the dynamical impact of seasonal mechanisms in a herbivore-plant defence system. Theoretical Ecology. In Press.

• Taylor, R.A., White, A. and Sherratt, J.A. 2013. How do variations in seasonality affect population cycles? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. In Press.

• Best, A., Tidbury, H., White, A. and Boots, M. 2013. The evolutionary dynamics of within-generation immune priming in invertebrate hosts. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. In Press. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2012.0887doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0647)

A complete list of publications is also available