1st Edition

Individual-Based Models and Approaches In Ecology Populations, Communities and Ecosystems

By D. L. DeAngelis Copyright 1992
    545 Pages
    by Chapman & Hall

    Until fairly recently, populations were handled as homogenized averages, which made modeling feasible but which ignored the essential fact that in any population there is a great variety of individuals of different ages, sizes, and degrees of fitness. Recently, because of the increased availability of affordable computer power, approaches have been developed which are able to recognize individual differences. Individual-based models are of great use in the areas of aquatic ecology, terrestrial ecology, landscape or physiological ecology, terrestrial ecology, landscape or physiological ecology, and agriculture.

    This book discusses which biological problems individual-based models can solve, as well as the models' inherent limitations. It explores likely future directions of theoretical development in these models, as well as currently feasible management applications and the best mathematical approaches and computer languages to use. The book also details specific applications to theory and management.

    1. Population Ecology From The Individual Perspective 2. Individual-Based Models: Combining Testability And Generality 3. From The Individual To The Population In Demographic Models Ii. Techniques Of Individual-Based Modelling 4. Which Individual-Based Approach Is Most Appropriate For A Given Problem? 5. The Role Of Physiologically Structured Population Models Within A General Individual-Based Modelling Perspective 6. The Dynamics Of A Size-Structured Intraspecific Competition Model With Density- Dependent Juvenile Growth Rate 7. Parallel Computers And Individual-Based Models: An Overview 8. From Local To Global: The Lesson Of Cellular Automata 9. Hierarchical And Concurrent Individual-Based Modelling Iii: 10. Individual State Structure In Population Models 11. Empirical And Theoretical Approaches To Size-Based Interactions And Recruitment Variability In Fishes 12. A Vitality Based Stochastic Model For Organism Survival 13. Evaluating The Size Effects Of Lampreys And Their Hosts: Application Of An Individual Based Model 14. Simulating Populations Obeying Taylor‘s Power Law 15. An Approach For Modelling Populations With Continuous Structured Models 16. Biomass Conversion At The Population Level Iv. Models Of Plant Populations And Communities 17. Theory And Models Of Inter-Plant Competition As Special Process 18. Individual Based Forest Succession Models And The Theory Of Plant Competition 19. Relationships Among Induvial Plant Growth And The Dynamics Of Populations And Ecosystems 20. A Comparison Of Models To Simulate The Competitive Interactions Between Plants In Even-Aged Monocultures 21. Modelling Of Growth And Competition In Plant Monoculture 22. Individual Behaviour And Pollination Ecology: Implications For The Spread Of Sexually Transmitted Plant Diseases V. Summary Of Working Group Discussions 23. Individual-Based Modelling: Summary Of A Workshop.

    Biography

    D. L. DeAngelis