Virtual Experiments and Web Links
This page provides cross-links between examples given in our book and live demonstrations in our online virtual laboratory:
Complexity in Landscape Ecology
The Monash Virtual Laboratory (VLAB)
Chapter 1 Complexity and ecology
No demonstrations
Chapter 2 Seeing the wood for the trees
Monash VLAB Demos
- Asynchronous updating (Fig 2-3)
- Ant colony formation (Fig 2-7)
- COT outbreak (Fig 2-8)
- Boids (Fig 2-9)
Other Links
- Lsystems (Fig 2-1, 2-2)
- Turtle geometry, or turtle graphics, was popularized by Wally Feurzeig and Seymour Papert as the Logo programming language. The idea is that a turtle wanders around the screen dragging a pen which draws a line tracing out the turtle's path.
- Cool School (Fig 2-10) by David S. Hooper
Chapter 3 Complexity in landscapes
Monash VLAB Demos
- Cellular Automata models (Fig 3-1, 3-2)
- Landscape connectivity (Fig 3-4)
- Connectivity phase changes (Fig 3-5, 3-6)
Other Links
- Fractals and Scale (Fig 3-3)
Chapter 4 Oh, what a tangled web
Monash VLAB Demos
- Networks (Fig 4-1, 4-3)
- Connectivity avalanche (Fig 4-2)
Chapter 5 The imbalance of nature
Monash VLAB Demos
- Logistic growth (Fig 5-2)
- Predator prey cycles (Fig 5-3, 5-4)
- Equilibrium and stability (Fig 5-5)
- Sensitivity to initial conditions (Fig 5-8)
Look for differences in curves when R-value > ~2.6 - Onset of chaos (Fig 5-9, 5-10)
Look for period doubling as you increase R-value
Other Links
Chapter 6 Populations in landscapes
Monash VLAB Demos
- Emergence of spatial patterns via dispersal (Fig 6-2)
Choose scenario: competing species - Mangroves in a salt marsh (Fig 6-3)
Choose salt marsh scenario
Chapter 7 Living with the neighbours
Monash VLAB Demos
- Invasion of an exotic plant (Fig 7-1, 7-2)
Choose scenario: weed invasion - Competition on an environmental gradient (Fig 7-4)
Choose scenario: gradient only; gradient + dispersal - Food webs (Fig 7-5, .... 7-8)
Chapter 8 Genetics and adaptation in landscapes
Monash VLAB Demos
- Neutral evolution in a landscape (Fig 8-1)
Choose scenario: Neutral evolution - Runaway sexual selection (Fig 8-3)
Choose scenario: Sexual selection - Genetic drift in a patchy landscape (Fig 8-5)
Chapter 9 Virtual worlds
Monash VLAB Demos
- Artificial life
- Game of Life (Fig 9-1, 9-2)
Other Links
- Tierra
- Daisyworld
- Swarm
- Smart Forest
- Ecos
- Virtual reality landscape (Fig 9-3, 9-4)
Chapter 10 Digital ecology
No demonstrations
Other Links
Environmental organisations and services online (Table 10-1)
- Australia-New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC)
- Australasian Spatial Data Directory
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- Diversitas
- Environment Australia
- Environment Australia interactive maps online
- European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS)
- International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI)
- International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO)
- Open GIS Consortium
- Species 2000
- The TIGER mapping system
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- USDA PLANTS Database
- US National Geophysical Data Center
- US Satellite Active Archive
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)
- World Wide Web Consortium
Chapter 11 The global picture
No demonstrations
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