Document: UTA-3-26-3

The field of neighborhood (FON) approach for modeling plant community dynamics.

BERGER, U.*

Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Bremen, GERMANY ¹

Abstract:
This presentation introduces a new approach (FON -"field of neighborhood") to spatially explicit modeling that enables the influence of neighborhood effects on the population dynamics of sessile organisms to be analyzed. FON combines the "neighborhood philosophy" of grid-based models with the description of individual spacing in the "zone of influence" (ZOI) approach. The novel feature of FON is that modeling of local competition between neighboring individuals is based on the notion of a field of neighborhood exerted by each individual. This feature allows the local neighborhood situation indicated by the number, the size, and the mean proximity of the individuals involved to be explicitly considered, and the resulting distribution of the individuals can be tested extensively against field data. For the demonstration of FON's power, a simulation model (KiWi) was implemented that focuses on the dynamic of mangrove forests. The realistic self-thinning behavior of modeled stands of Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle confirms the suitability of the FON approach for the description of intra- and inter-specific competition. Moreover, the results of KiWi provide insights into the underlying processes affecting the size hierarchy development and therefore into responses to crowding in natural populations of long-living plants.

Keywords: Individual-based modeling, mangrove, spatially explicit modeling, neighborhood effects

This abstract is being presented at: 10:45 AM in session:
Symposium # 27: Advancing the Individual-Based Modeling Approach: New Tools and Concepts.