Dr Peter A Whigham, Department of Information Science

Title: "Artificial Ecosystems and Individual-based models - or - How little can we represent and still say something interesting?"

Artificial Ecosystems have been used to explore the properties of real (and imagined) systems for the past 50 years. This seminar will give an introduction to the makeup and properties of artificial ecosystems, focussing on individual-based models as one class of system. An example that explores the notion of criticality and biodiversity will be used to show how simple models can be used to explore complex questions.