Contribution in an anthology

Appeared in: Modelling Complex Ecological Dynamics : an introduction into ecological modelling for students, teachers & scientists

Editor list: Jopp, F; Reuter, H; Breckling, B

Publication year: 2011

Pages: 29-40

ISBN: 978-3-642-05028-2

eISBN: 978-3-642-05029-9

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05029-9_3

Abstract: 

The chapter outlines major routes of development leading to the current
spectrum of concepts and applications in ecological modelling. The field
is closely linked to achievements in other sciences, in particular
physics, numerics, computer science, and cross-disciplinary adoption of
ideas. Ecological modelling emerged initially as a relatively
homogeneous field and mainly employed differential equations which
originated in classical mechanics. Quantitative ecological dynamics were
initially described in a formal analogy to physical processes. In the
last few decades, the methodological repertoire in ecological modelling
was successively expanded. Nowadays, the whole range of quantitative
methods available in numerical mathematics can be seen as a foundation
for future model development in ecology. Some pioneers in the field are
briefly introduced and their contributions linked to some of the
mainstreams and sidelines of the state-of-the-art in ecological
sciences. The overview provided here will not be able to provide
historical completeness but attempts to facilitate an understanding of
the origin of the major approaches presented in this book and how they
obtained their role in current ecological modelling.

Harvard Citation style: Breckling, B., Jopp, F. and Reuter, H. (2011) Historical Background of Ecological Modeling and its importance for modern Ecology, in Jopp, F., Reuter, H. and Breckling, B. (eds.) Modelling Complex Ecological Dynamics : an introduction into ecological modelling for students, teachers & scientists. Berlin: Springer, pp. 29-40. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05029-9_3

APA Citation style: Breckling, B., Jopp, F., & Reuter, H. (2011). Historical Background of Ecological Modeling and its importance for modern Ecology. In Jopp, F., Reuter, H., & Breckling, B. (Eds.), Modelling Complex Ecological Dynamics : an introduction into ecological modelling for students, teachers & scientists (pp. 29-40). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05029-9_3