Models in population ecology • “Strategic” models • Unapologetic caricatures (i.e., over ‐ simplifications) • Used to develop intuition, explore the logical consequences of assumptions, generate testable predictions • “Tactical” models • Tailored to a specific system • Used to make forecasts or guide management • Used to make forecasts or guide management • Models can also be vehicles for competing alternative hypotheses against one another with data ( The Ecological Detective , 1997, Ray Hilborn & Marc Mangel)
It’s a rough world out there. Photo credits: eoearth.org, cornell.edu, ncse.com .
Whither positive interactions? Photo credits: flickr.com, RR Dunn, B Guenard.
Species may simultaneously compete with and facilitate one another another. Figure from Hunter & Aarsen, “Plants helping plants”, BioScience 1988.
Photo credit www.ncports.com Photo credit www2 bishopmuseum org Photo credit www2.bishopmuseum.org Photo credit www.seaweed.ie Hay, American Naturalist 1986.
Colwell, Biotropica 1995
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