PARENT SESSION
Symposium #20: Extreme event analysis in ecology.
Sponsored by ESA Statistical Ecology and Long Term Studies Sections
Organized by: B. Li and R. G. Balice.
Thursday, August 9, 2001. 8:00 AM to 12:10 PM. Madison Ballroom A

Mathematical and statistical techniques and approaches for extreme event analysis: an overview.

Li, Bai-Lian¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- Statistically, extreme event analysis belongs to the theory of extreme value statistics. An extreme value is the largest or smallest number in a data set. Every data set has extremes although they may not be very different from the rest of the data. The purpose of the statistical theory of extreme values is to model observed extremes in samples of some specific size. The recent developments in statistical and nonlinear physics have also added new tools for better predictions of extreme events such as fractals, catastrophe theory, renormalization group theory, nonequilibrium phase transitions, etc. In this talk, I will give a brief overview of current statistical and mathematical approaches and techniques in extreme event analysis, with various ecological applications.

KEY WORDS: Extreme event analysis, statistical ecology, long term ecological studies, modeling