Simulating Ecological and Evolutionary Systems in C - Hardcover

Wilson, Will

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521772281 ISBN 13: 9780521772280

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Computer simulations provide a powerful tool for understanding ecological and evolutionary systems. Simulating Ecological and Evolutionary Systems in C models a diverse range of biological processes and systems, including competition, foraging, predation, mating systems, and life-history optimization, by simulating large collections of interacting individuals. Using the widely available computer programming language C, the book starts with elementary programs modeling stochastic birth-death processes, slowly increasing programming complexity as the chapters progress. All the important features of C are covered, including arrays, files, pointers, and structures, within biologically motivated simulations. Although computer simulations of extremely complicated biological processes are released from rigid mathematical constraints, each of the simulations is also placed in the context of a mathematical formulation examined either analytically or numerically. Procedures covered include testing random number generators, producing PostScript files, root-finding, numerical integration and using the genetic algorithm.

About this title

Review

Written primarily as a textbook for undergraduates, graduates and biological researchers, Simulating Ecological and Evolutionary Systems in C offers an introduction to writing C programs that simulate common ecological processes, as well as the mathematical models behind them.

This title offers an intriguing mix of several analytical models, expressed in the language of mathematics, which researchers have used over the years to explain such phenomena as predator-prey interactions, how foraging patterns affect a species population, and other biological processes. Throughout the book, readers are invited to try out these rules for themselves using computer simulations written in C. As suggested, analytical models can be verified--and even challenged--by comparing them with evidence generated from computer simulations.

While this book offers plenty of mathematical background (it assumes a knowledge of calculus and differential equations), when it comes to programming it's actually much more accessible. There's a very basic tour of C from the ground up, including the basics of writing and compiling programs in UNIX and Windows. Any reader with a willingness to learn C can try out these simulations (which will remind the computer hobbyist of Conway's Game of Life, a well-known simulation). While there are plenty of visualisation techniques--through PostScript files--more computer-savvy readers can take these programs to the next level by adding real-time graphics. The text culminates in an introduction to genetic algorithms, an exciting area of recent research in which evolutionary processes are simulated in software. For the student or specialist, this is a solid academic treatment of an exciting field of biological research. (Each chapter concludes with exercises for the classroom, and a section on sample software projects will help students hone their programming skills on a rich variety of biological problems.) For the game programmer or interested enthusiast, it provides a glimpse into the exciting world of biological simulations and some intriguing algorithms to try out on your own. --Richard Dragan

Review

"This book is a gold mine, if you have the tools and interest to work it...Wilson's treatment of the relationships between analytical and stochastic models is one of the outstanding features of this bookoa powerful learning tool." Ecoscience

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521772281
• ISBN 13: 9780521772280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 318