SPATIALLY EXPLICIT POPULATION-MODELS - CURRENT FORMS AND FUTURE USES

Citation
Jb. Dunning et al., SPATIALLY EXPLICIT POPULATION-MODELS - CURRENT FORMS AND FUTURE USES, Ecological applications, 5(1), 1995, pp. 3-11
Citations number
58
Categorie Soggetti
Ecology
Journal title
ISSN journal
10510761
Volume
5
Issue
1
Year of publication
1995
Pages
3 - 11
Database
ISI
SICI code
1051-0761(1995)5:1<3:SEP-CF>2.0.ZU;2-1
Abstract
Spatially explicit population models are becoming increasingly useful tools for population ecologists, conservation biologists, and land man agers. Models are spatially explicit when they combine a population si mulator with a landscape map that describes the spatial distribution o f landscape features. With this map, the locations of habitat patches, individuals, and other items of interest are explicitly incorporated into the model, and the effect of changing landscape features on popul ation dynamics can be studied. In this paper we describe the structure of some spatially explicit models under development and provide examp les of current and future research using these models. Spatially expli cit models are important tools for investigating scale-related questio ns in population ecology, especially the response of organisms to habi tat change occurring at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Simu lation models that incorporate real-world landscapes, as portrayed by landscape maps created with geographic information systems, are also p roving to be crucial in the development of management strategies in re sponse to regional land-use and other global change processes. Spatial ly explicit population models will increase our ability to accurately model complex landscapes, and therefore should improve both basic ecol ogical knowledge of landscape phenomena and applications of landscape ecology to conservation and management.