Individual-Based Ecological Modeling

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2017)

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Computer Science, Cross-appointed by the Biology Department, Cross-appointed by the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, 8111 LAM, University of Windsor 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada
Interests: modeling; artificial intelligence; theoretical ecology; machine learning; ecosystem simulation; artificial Life; bioinformatics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this Special Issue of Geoscience is to present different methodologies that have been designed to model complex ecological and evolutionary systems at the individual level. The domain of application of such models is quite broad. It ranges from systems involving a small population of interacting individuals for the purpose of behavioral studies to systems modeling large scale spatio-temporal environments to investigate evolutionary mechanisms. The main objective of this modeling is to highlight the importance of individual interactions in the emergence of high level systemic patterns.

With the focus being on individual-based approaches, papers are not restricted to a specific topic, although they must include one or several models centered on the description and design of individuals and their interactions with their environment. At the same time, submitted papers are expected to present results pertaining to the utilization of individual-based models with respect to a clearly defined application in terms of simulations and their analysis. The domain of application of the model can be any problem related to ecological and/or evolutionary questions that are either practical (e.g., management of a specific population or environment) or theoretical (e.g., evolution and transmission of traits affecting behaviors and the dynamics of a system).

Dr. Robin Gras
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Individual-based modeling
  • Ecological modeling
  • Evolution
  • Ecosystem simulation
  • Theoretical ecology
  • Complex system
  • Behavioral model

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Article
Evolution of Neural Dynamics in an Ecological Model
by Steven Williams and Larry Yaeger
Geosciences 2017, 7(3), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7030049 - 04 Jul 2017
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3833
Abstract
What is the optimal level of chaos in a computational system? If a system is too chaotic, it cannot reliably store information. If it is too ordered, it cannot transmit information. A variety of computational systems exhibit dynamics at the “edge of chaos”, [...] Read more.
What is the optimal level of chaos in a computational system? If a system is too chaotic, it cannot reliably store information. If it is too ordered, it cannot transmit information. A variety of computational systems exhibit dynamics at the “edge of chaos”, the transition between the ordered and chaotic regimes. In this work, we examine the evolved neural networks of Polyworld, an artificial life model consisting of a simulated ecology populated with biologically inspired agents. As these agents adapt to their environment, their initially simple neural networks become increasingly capable of exhibiting rich dynamics. Dynamical systems analysis reveals that natural selection drives these networks toward the edge of chaos until the agent population is able to sustain itself. After this point, the evolutionary trend stabilizes, with neural dynamics remaining on average significantly far from the transition to chaos. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Individual-Based Ecological Modeling)
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