Application of a computational model for complex fluvial ecosystems: The population dynamics of zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha as a case study

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe potential and adaptive flexibility of population dynamic P-systems (PDP) to study population dynamics suggests that they may be suitable for modelling complex fluvial ecosystems, characterized by a composition of dynamic habitats with many variables that interact simultaneously. Using as a model a reservoir occupied by the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, we designed a computational model based on P systems to study the population dynamics of larvae, in order to evaluate management actions to control or eradicate this invasive species. The population dynamics of this species was simulated under different scenarios ranging from the absence of water flow change to a weekly variation with different flow rates, to the actual hydrodynamic situation of an intermediate flow rate. Our results show that PDP models can be very useful tools to model complex, partially desynchronized, processes that work in parallel. This allows the study of complex hydroecological processes such as the one presented, where reproductive cycles, temperature and water dynamics are involved in the desynchronization of the population dynamics both, within areas and among them.The results obtained may be useful in the management of other reservoirs with similar hydrodynamic situations in which the presence of this invasive species has been documented.2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Modeling the consequences of the demise and potential recovery of a keystone-species: wild rabbits and avian scavengers in Mediterranean landscapes

“…These models belong to the family of models developed by 32 and were initially created to simulate the functioning of organelles in the cell (i.e., varying their numbers and operating parallel in a synchronous and interrelated manner). There is a close parallelism between the functioning of cells and ecosystems making P-systems an increasingly useful tool in many different research lines including animal behavior, invasion processes and conservation planning 33 34 35 36 .…”

Adaptative parallel simulators for bioinspired computing models

“…Thus, researchers can write and debug P systems in a familiar way using modules, parameters, variables, iterators and other programming ingredients. For instance, several real ecosystem models have been written, debugged and simulated using the P-Lingua framework [9,15,31].…”

“…Simulating P systems is of huge importance to develop validation, verification and virtual experimentation tools [11,12]. For instance, Population Dynamics P systems (PDP systems, for short) were conceived and successfully employed for ecosystem modelling [13], and their efficient simulation is the key for fast model designing process [9], parameter calibration [14] and experimentation [15].…”

Modeling diel vertical migration with membrane computing

“…Membrane graphs provide a natural mechanism to encode spatial regions. In this sense, there exist membrane computing models on population dynamics that use a membrane graph to represent space [13,18,21]. However, the usage of a membrane graph to represent a lattice of spatial regions is not common in the literature of membrane computing models in population dynamics, even though it is a widespread practice in agent-based modeling in fisheries [5,12,37,38].…”