Using models to compare the ecology of cities

Abstract

Introduction: Models are ubiquitous in ecology. By providing simplified representations of reality, models help ecologists to grapple with ecological systems that are inherently complex. From the theoretician who might construct models of the persistence of a species in patches through to a person collecting field data on a plant or animal, all ecologists think of ecological systems in the presence of incomplete information. Because our understanding of how ecological systems operate is based on a simplified representation of reality, all ecologists (in fact all people), whether they like to admit it or not, are modellers. The models may be written explicitly or simply contained within our m..