The effects of varying parameter values and heterogeneity in an individual-based model of predator-prey interaction
Authored by WJ Chivers, RD Herbert
Date Published: 2003
DOI: 10.1142/s0219525903000980
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Mathematical description
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Abstract
An individual-based model which produces nonlinear predator-prey
dynamics is described. The importance of individual variation to the
stability of the population dynamics predicted by the model and the
advantages of the individual-based approach to modelling ecological
systems is discussed. The individual-based model is compared with the
traditional approach of population ecology - the modelling of
populations with state variable equations. The individual-based model
built here produces similar patterns of mutual dependence of the
populations to those produced by the state variable model but has
additional utility. It greatly simplifies the adjustment of individual
environmental parameters which may be built into the model and it makes
it possible to follow individuals or individual parameter values through
the simulation. The cost of the utility of the individual-based approach
is in the complexity of the model itself, which is more difficult to
build than many state variable models. A common finding in the
literature of individual-based modelling in ecology is the importance of
individual variation. The individual-based model described here is built
with a minimum of biological complexity, but still we find that
individual variation in the model has profound effects on the stability
of the population levels over long time periods.
Tags
ecology
Animals