| Individual-based models (IBMs) |
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Individual-based models (IBMs) are a sort of mathematical models in which a discrete individual
that has at least one feature unique relative to other individuals is the fundamental modelling
unit. In biology, the individual often refers to a single cell or an individual organism. Sometimes,
models with more general "individuals" such as ant colonies or bird flocks appear in the literature.
In spatially explicit IBMs, the feature that makes each individual unique is at least its spatial
location. Spatially explicit IBMs can be classified according to whether space and time are each
treated as discrete (D) or continuous (C).
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The following is a list of all four spatio-temporal frameworks in which spatially explicit IBMs
have been formulated, together with a starting reference and C-coded source file containing an IBM
simulating one of the simplest ecological systems - density-dependent, single-species population growth.
You can learn more on IBMs encoded in these files in this paper:
Berec, L. 2002. Techniques of spatially explicit individual-based models:
construction, simulation, and mean-field analysis. Ecological Modelling 150:55-81
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| Space
| Time
| Model
| Starting reference
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| D
| D
| ibmdd.zip
| McCauley, E., Wilson, W.G. and de Roos, A.M. (1993) Dynamics of age-structured
and spatially structured predator-prey interactions: individual-based models
and population-level formulations, American Naturalist 142, 412-442
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| D
| C
| ibmdc.zip
| Durrett, R. and Levin, S. (1998) Spatial aspects of interspecific competition,
Theoretical Population Biology 53, 30-43
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| C
| D
| ibmcd.zip
| Pacala, S.W. and Silander, Jr., J.A. (1985) Neighborhood models of plant population
dynamics. I. Single-species models of annuals, American Naturalist 125, 385-411
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| C
| C
| ibmcc.zip
| Bolker, B.M. and Pacala, S.W. (1999) Spatial moment equations for plant
competition: understanding spatial strategies and the advantages of short
dispersal, American Naturalist 153, 575-602
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