Parameterizing, evaluating and comparing metapopulation models with data from individual-based simulations

Authored by Hans Joachim Poethke, Frank M Hilker, Martin Hinsch

Date Published: 2006

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2005.06.011

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Flow charts Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Due to the lack of sufficient data and appropriate ecological information parameterizing predictive population dynamical models usually is a difficult task. The approach proposed in this study is meant to overcome this problem by using detailed individual-based simulations to generate artificial data. With short-term data samples, the models to be investigated can be parameterized and their predictions be compared. The flexibility of individual-based simulations as experimental tools also facilitates the evaluation and comparison of different (aggregated) model types. The presented approach is a step towards unifying models of different complexity. As an example we applied it to two metapopulation models of insect species in a highly fragmented landscape: the well-known incidence function model with a patch-based representation of space and a grid-based analogue. The models are tested with respect to their data requirement and recommendations for a better data sampling are derived. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tags

Dynamics Heterogeneity Optimization pattern Dispersal Extinction Landscapes Population viability analysis Patch occupancy models Ecological theory