TITLE:

INDIVIDUAL-BASED AND AGENT-BASED MODELING IN LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

DATE:

Friday, Apr 13th, 2012

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS 214

SPEAKER:

Jeff A. Tracey, PhD.
Western Ecological Research Center.
US Geological Survey.

ABSTRACT:

This talk will focus on the role of computational models in understanding the interaction of animal
behavior and landscape structure with applications to wildlife conservation. I will give a brief
introduction to the fields of landscape ecology, individual-based modeling, and agent-based modeling
in ecology. One area in which these two fields intersect is in the modeling animal movement
behavior. I will first present work on the development of approaches for modeling of individual-
based animal movement behavior. Examples of applications of the models to animal movement data
acquired by biotelemetry will be provided. Next, I will describe an agent-based model that serves
as a “computational laboratory” for the exploration of the effects of animal movement behavior in
interaction with landscape structure on the spread of a simple virtual disease transmitted by direct
contact. This model is motivated by empirical studies of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) among
bobcats in a landscape fragmented by urban development. Using the model, we conducted an
extensive sensitivity analysis to explore its behavior. Even though the rules that govern agent behavior
in the model are simple, interesting system-level behaviors were observed. A version of the model that
allows run-time visualization of the model will be demonstrated. Finally, I will close with some potential
future directions in computational ecology.

HOST:

Dr. Paul Paolini.

DOWNLOAD: