Conclusion

Being able to better understand how diseases and pests are propagated and how they may be contained requires knowledge of the many factors that influence their success or failure. The combination of chance events, time delays, and nonlinearities in complex social and environmental settings make predicting spread of diseases and pests a daunting task. Yet, some method for sorting through the myriad of factors and influences and for anticipating future dynamics is required to meet dual goals of improving the state of human welfare and maintaining healthy ecosystems.

In this book we provided one particular, and very powerful, way of looking at the world. We concentrated on the forces that underlie different dynamic systems. Others, with different educational or cultural backgrounds, may choose a different approach and may develop different models. The potential diversity of perspectives and approaches in modeling is a challenge for all of us and should be perceived as an opportunity to engage in cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue about the world in which we live.