Ecologist-Developed Spatially-Explicity Dynamic Landscape Models

This book is written for ecologists interested in capturing their understandings of how natural systems work in software – to help inform their work and communicate the consequences of proposed management plans.  Historically, ecologists had to rely on the skills of trained computer programmers to modeling natural systems, but now a new generation of software is allowing ecologists to directly capture their understandings of systems in software.  This book is a compilation of spatially explicit simulation models developed by ecologists and planners without any formal computer programming skills.  Readers will be inspired to believe that they too can create similar models of the systems with which they are familiar.

The optimal management of landscapes must incorporate the cause-and-effect relationships that have so carefully been observed by ecologists in the field. The growing availability of straightforward, user-friendly simulation modeling tools is now helping to bridge the considerable gap between the ecologist’s deep, intuitive technical understanding of landscape systems and the development of practical, science-driven landscape management plans. This book offers a thorough introduction to the topic of real-world simulation modeling for scientists who have completed little or no preparatory work in computer programming. It describes the usefulness of simple, expedient simulation models to disciplines such as ecology and the social sciences, and explains why such models can readily be understood, adopted, and extended by peers in the field or students.