Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Book chapters
Title (Primary) Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen sehen: musterorientiertes Modellieren in der Ökologie
Title (Secondary) Rolle und Bedeutung von Modellen für den ökologischen Erkenntnisprozeß. Tagungsband zum Jahrestreffen 2000 des Arbeitskreises Theorie in der Ökologie
Author Grimm, V.
Publisher Jopp, F.; Weigmann, G.
Source Titel Theorie in der Ökologie
Year 2001
Department OESA
Volume 4
Page From 43
Page To 57
Language deutsch
Abstract The modelling strategies used so far in ecology very often run into trouble: detailed and complex simulation models which are designed to be "realistic" are usually hard to communicate, hard to understand and hard to test. On the other hand, models which claim to be: general are often much too general to be compared with reality and therefore cannot be tested. As a solution to this problem, the strategy of pattern-oriented modelling is proposed. A pattern is anything which goes beyond random variation and therefore indicates detectable mechanisms which generate the pattern. There are "strong" patterns which are easy to identify, and 'weak' patterns which are harder to make out. Pattern-oriented modelling means using these patterns observed in nature during the construction, parametrization and testing of models. During construction, orientation towards a pattern forces the modeller to design a structure which - in principle - would allow the pattern observed to be generated. Pattern-oriented modelling thus produces 'structurally realistic' models, i.e. models which capture the essential structural features of the system modelled. This and other advantages of pattern-oriented modelling are demonstrated using the re-cent model BEFORE of a native beech forest in Central Europe.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=6355
Grimm, V. (2001):
Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen sehen: musterorientiertes Modellieren in der Ökologie
In: Jopp, F., Weigmann, G. (Hrsg.)
Rolle und Bedeutung von Modellen für den ökologischen Erkenntnisprozeß. Tagungsband zum Jahrestreffen 2000 des Arbeitskreises Theorie in der Ökologie
Theorie in der Ökologie 4
Lang, Frankfurt/M., S. 43 - 57