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Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1007/s10021-016-0071-2
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Title (Primary) Next-generation individual-based models integrate biodiversity and ecosystems: yes we can, and yes we must
Author Grimm, V.; Ayllón, D.; Railsback, S.F.
Source Titel Ecosystems
Year 2017
Department OESA; iDiv
Volume 20
Issue 2
Page From 229
Page To 236
Language englisch
Keywords biodiversity research; emergence; first principles; individual-based; ecology; individual-based modeling; pattern-oriented modeling; predictions; structural realism; theory development
UFZ wide themes RU5;
Abstract Ecosystem and community ecology have evolved along different pathways, with little overlap. However, to meet societal demands for predicting changes in ecosystem services, the functional and structural view dominating these two branches of ecology, respectively, must be integrated. Biodiversity–ecosystem function research has addressed this integration for two decades, but full integration that makes predictions relevant to practical problems is still lacking. We argue that full integration requires going, in both branches, deeper by taking into account individual organisms and the evolutionary and physico-chemical principles that drive their behavior. Individual-based models are a major tool for this integration. They have matured by using individual-level mechanism to replace the demographic thinking which dominates classical theoretical ecology. Existing individual-based ecosystem models already have proven useful both for theory and application. Still, next-generation individual-based models will increasingly use standardized and re-usable submodels to represent behaviors and mechanisms such as growth, uptake of nutrients, foraging, and home range behavior. The strategy of pattern-oriented modeling then helps make such ecosystem models structurally realistic by developing theory for individual behaviors just detailed enough to reproduce and explain patterns observed at the system level. Next-generation ecosystem scientists should include the individual-based approach in their toolkit and focus on addressing real systems because theory development and solving applied problems go hand-in-hand in individual-based ecology.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=18052
Grimm, V., Ayllón, D., Railsback, S.F. (2017):
Next-generation individual-based models integrate biodiversity and ecosystems: yes we can, and yes we must
Ecosystems 20 (2), 229 - 236 10.1007/s10021-016-0071-2