Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Book chapters
DOI 10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11144-3
Document author version
Title (Primary) Individual-based models (updated: 2018)
Author Grimm, V.
Publisher Fath, B.D.
Source Titel Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2nd Edition
Year 2019
Department OESA
Volume Vol. 2
Page From 65
Page To 73
Language englisch
Keywords Adaptive behavior; Agent-based modeling; Emergence; First principles; Individual-based modeling; Local interactions; ODD protocol; Pattern-oriented modeling; Predictions; Robustness analysis; Trait variation
UFZ inventory Leipzig, Bibliothek, Hauptlesesaal, 00300575, 08-1025 DK: Lex 574 Enc ; 1st Ed.
Abstract Individual-based models (IBMs) are based on the explicit representation of individual organisms. They are developed for questions where individual variability, local interactions, and adaptive behavior are essential to get the right answers. IBMs are more complex than other mathematical models. Both their complexity and their uncertainty in model structure and parameters are a challenge, but new approaches exist that help meeting these challenges. These approaches are based on multiple patterns, observed in the real systems at different scales and hierarchical levels. Patterns indirectly provide information about the systems’ internal organization. The task of the modeler is to decode this information. Specific software libraries and modeling platforms exist to implement IBMs as computer programs. Analyzing IBMs requires considering patterns, to define currencies for comparisons of alternative models and parameterizations, and to perform controlled simulation experiments. Robustness analyses then help identifying insights that can be generalized beyond the specific system that has been modeled. Three IBMs from the literature are briefly presented as examples of pragmatic and paradigmatic models of animal and plant populations and communities. IBMs are an integral and essential part of ecological modeling and further important general insights of Individual-based Ecology are to be expected, in particular since standards for model design, implementation, analysis, and communication are increasingly used.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=20941
Grimm, V. (2019):
Individual-based models (updated: 2018)
In: Fath, B.D. (ed.)
Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2nd Edition Vol. 2
Elsevier, Oxford, p. 65 - 73 10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11144-3