SIMULATING MOBILE POPULATIONS IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract

Current spatiotemporal modeling techniques used to understand and predict ecosystem processes can often be categorized into one of two distinct modeling frameworks. Eulerian frameworks are often used to balance changes and fluxes of mass and energy and usually used in the simulation of physicochemical regimes. Lagrangian frameworks are often used to simulate the movement and/ or behavior of individuals, groups of individuals, or populations. The use of different frameworks has created a disconnect between the modeling capabilities of physiochemical modelers (usually engineers) and biological population modelers (usually biologists). I describe a modeling framework, the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Hybrid (CEL Hybrid) Ecological Modeling System, which couples the two frameworks into a comprehensive, unified framework for simulation of ecological processes. The CEL Hybrid modeling framework provides the means to simulate the spatiotemporal population processes, particularly movement dynamics, of higher trophic level species in aquatic environments.