About this Research Topic
The need to understand the complex dynamics exhibited by ecological and evolutionary systems has led to of a diversity of modelling approaches, including mathematical and simulation, and conceptual models of the structure and function of population, community, and ecosystem dynamics, along with unique and state-of-the-art statistical models for the refined analysis of system dynamics. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is proud to introduce a new series of Collections, inspired by our Models in Ecology and Evolution section.
Populations, communities, and ecosystems share common research threads, including interactions between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment. One shared thread at each of these levels is how natural or anthropogenic change the nature of these interactions to shape patterns of abundance, temporal trend, stability, structure, connectance, diversity, and function. Understanding processes supporting the population, community, and ecosystem dynamics is vital to sound management and conservation decisions. Such decisions often require quantitative, model-based innovations that extend beyond traditional approaches.
Models in Population, Community, and Ecosystem Dynamics welcomes manuscripts that focus on implementing, using, and evaluating models, spanning approaches from conceptual models, and computer simulations to models describing and analyzing empirical data from dynamic systems. We welcome models for all significant aspects of population, community and ecosystem dynamics.
We also welcome manuscripts that focus on the theoretical basis of questions. Research published in this collection might include studies that:
• Use models (mathematical, empirical, or simulation) to describe and understand fundamental processes in population/community/ecosystem dynamics
• Present innovative approaches, including statistical packages/functions, for model development, evaluation, and communication
Authors should include reproducible equations or computer code as a key component of their submission. Clear references to these items should appear in the Materials and Methods section, with extensive formal or coding details appearing in an appendix or in an online repository (such as GitHub or Code Ocean), whichever is most appropriate. Authors should also consult Frontiers Author Guidelines data and code policies.
Populations, communities, and ecosystems share common research threads, including interactions between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment. One shared thread at each of these levels is how natural or anthropogenic change the nature of these interactions to shape patterns of abundance, temporal trend, stability, structure, connectance, diversity, and function. Understanding processes supporting the population, community, and ecosystem dynamics is vital to sound management and conservation decisions. Such decisions often require quantitative, model-based innovations that extend beyond traditional approaches.
Models in Population, Community, and Ecosystem Dynamics welcomes manuscripts that focus on implementing, using, and evaluating models, spanning approaches from conceptual models, and computer simulations to models describing and analyzing empirical data from dynamic systems. We welcome models for all significant aspects of population, community and ecosystem dynamics.
We also welcome manuscripts that focus on the theoretical basis of questions. Research published in this collection might include studies that:
• Use models (mathematical, empirical, or simulation) to describe and understand fundamental processes in population/community/ecosystem dynamics
• Present innovative approaches, including statistical packages/functions, for model development, evaluation, and communication
Authors should include reproducible equations or computer code as a key component of their submission. Clear references to these items should appear in the Materials and Methods section, with extensive formal or coding details appearing in an appendix or in an online repository (such as GitHub or Code Ocean), whichever is most appropriate. Authors should also consult Frontiers Author Guidelines data and code policies.
Keywords: population dynamics, modeling approaches, community dynamics, ecosystem dynamics
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
