Course No. 5: Ecological Modelling

22 May to 2 June 2008, Leipzig & Bad Schandau (Germany)

Objective

Ecological Modelling is a methodological key skill in modern environmental research. Ecological models are very useful for simulating and analyzing the long-term dynamics and stability properties of complex ecological systems. They allow integrating information from different disciplines as well as analysing, interpreting and understanding field observations. Moreover, they allow alternative scenarios to be developed, simulated, analyzed, compared, and ranked according to their effect. This provides a basis for the development of tools for management support and policy advice. This is particularly important in the context of mastering one of the grand challenges of the future: the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in face of Global Change (esp. climate, land use or institutional change).
The present course gives a systematic introduction into the development and analysis of ecological models and provides an overview over important approaches and model types. It gives examples for the use of models for understanding and predicting ecological processes and for supporting the development of management strategies and policy options in fields such as: biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of natural resources, disease control or the adaptations to the impacts of climate change. The course is a mixture of lectures, talks from research and practical work on own modelling projects in small groups.

Course Material

Below you can find the presentations (pdf-files) given at the METIER Training Course "Ecological Modelling" (Leipzig, 22 May-2 June 2008).

General Introduction
   Introduction into the Course (Frank)
   Overall Course Programme

Introduction into Programming with Borland C++ Builder
   Script (Zeibig, Müller, Hartig, Jakoby)

Introduction into Ecological Modelling
   General Concepts & Methodology (Frank)
   Cooking Recipe of Rule-based Modelling (Frank)
   Supplementary Talk (Peer)

Individual-based Models
   IBMs_Part I (Railsback)
   IBMs_Part II (Railsback)
   Supplementary Talk (Railsback)

Models with Temporal Variability
   Incorporating Temporal Variability (Travis)
   Environmental Change (Travis)
   Supplementary Talk (Johst)

Spatial Models
   Spatial Models in Ecology (Rüger)
   Metapopulation Models & Viability Analysis (Frank)

Equation-based Population Models
   Limited & Unlimited Growth (Groeneveld)
   Stochastic Limited Growth (Groeneveld)
   Supplementary Talk (Calabrese)

Bridging between Bottom-up and Top-down Approaches
   Bridging_Part I (Calabrese)
   Bridging_Part II (Calabrese)

To top