Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
be amplified and alter directions of development, which allows qualitative under-
standing but limits prognostic potential. It is clear meanwhile, that not a single
methodological approach is equally suitable for all questions and problems. This
confronts ecologists with the requirement to select appropriate approaches. Which
one to chose depends on the problem to be solved. Nowadays, methods from many
different sources are adapted if they are suitable for ecological modelling purposes.
How else could we discover activity pattern and behaviour of marine animals
except by combining radio tracking, remote sensing and other technical devices
with data evaluation facilities to come up with object oriented behavioural models
(see Chap. 12)? How else could we come up with realistic plant shape models
without using graphical iteration (see Chap. 11)? How else could we gain an
integrated picture of landscape dynamics and how it alters the living conditions
for protected organisms, if not using a larger set of methods in parallel with
network-like connections of mutual input (see Chap. 21)? We use differential
equations, matrix models, individual-based descriptions - as presented in the
different chapters of this topic as single approaches - or when it is needed, various
model components will be coupled together (see Chaps. 20 to 22).
Promising approaches are very welcome for ecological application when it helps
and inspires the understanding of organisms and their relations among each other
and their environments. Regardless of the currently available, amazing supply of
modelling techniques and methods, we ecologists should always stay focussed on
one thing: to develop our own model.
