Mathematical Biology Seminar Blaine Griffen, Brigham Young University, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024 2:00pm in LCB 323 Optimal bioenergetics models: A case study of limb regeneration in Asian shore crabs Abstract: Bioenergetic modeling approaches have been an important part of physiological ecology for nearly 50 years. These models track energy flow through an organism and can be used to predict a wide range of biological processes, such as reproduction, growth, regeneration, energy storage, etc. While useful, bioenergetics models often make predictions that differ widely from empirical measurements. Further, most bioenergetics approaches to date have been based on the assumption that the allocation of energy to different biological processes is fixed. Yet this assumption flies in the face of decades of life-history research that demonstrates that energy allocation is highly flexible. Here I develop a bioenergetics model to examine the energetics of limb regeneration in the Asian shore crab, a species that frequently loses and regrows its limbs. Modeled animals allocate energy to growth, reproduction, or regeneration based on strategies at each point in life that optimize lifetime fitness. The optimal model outperforms a model that is identical in all respects, but assumes fixed energy allocation rules, suggesting that optimal energy allocation may more closely align with organismal life-history strategies, and so may improve bioenergetics approaches in ecology.