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An Overview of Biological Models: A Physical Scientist’s Perspective

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Integrated Regional Models

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Abstract

In this chapter, I serve as a commentator outside the field or as a gadfly for models developed by ecosystem scientists. My area of interest is the atmospheric sciences. In my view, there are important historical parallels in modeling in the two disciplines. My comparison of these penultimate ecosystem and weather and climate models focuses on common attributes: system heterogeneity, scale, simple structure, memory, succession, state change, and chaos. In order to prevent my Don Quixote tendencies from running rampant, I have reread A. M. Turing’s sobering warning about his own model published in his 1952 Philosophical Transactions paper:

This model will be a simplification and an idealization, and consequently a falsification. It is to be hoped that the features retained for discussion are those of greatest importance in the present state of knowledge.

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Authors
  1. Bruce P. Hayden
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, 12545, Millbrook, NY, USA

    Peter M. Groffman  & Gene E. Likens  & 

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© 1994 Chapman & Hall

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Hayden, B.P. (1994). An Overview of Biological Models: A Physical Scientist’s Perspective. In: Groffman, P.M., Likens, G.E. (eds) Integrated Regional Models. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6447-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6447-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-6449-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-6447-4

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