Simulations

Get SimAnt, SimFarm and other games! (These are AbandonWare)

General Simulations and Information

1. The Impact of Mathematics on Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.General Source for Simulations: Downloads will be assigned in class.
2. Visit the Quantitative Population Ecology Web Page. General readings on many topics can be found here. Visit it often during the semester,
3. A tutorial (with examples) of ecological simulation. This includes discussions on the usefulness of simulations, their limits, and methods of modeling ecological situations.
4. Modeling Population Growth. A readable explanation of the modeling process from a mathematician's point of view.
5. Using the keyboard.

Tietjen Web-based Simulations

IMPORTANT NOTE: The following simulations are configured to work in your browser. In some cases they will not appear if your system does not accept active X controls. If that's the case, and you don't want to enable the control, use the stand-alone programs and install them on your computer. Directions and laboratories using these programs are accessed by clicking on the following group.

VISTA USERS READ THIS TO RUN THE PROGRAMS

1. Insect Orders widget.
2. Go to the Moth Simulation.
3. Species Diversity Calculator
4. Dendogram calculations.
5. Climate Space Model
6. Transpiration Model
7. Game Theory Model.
8. Life Table widget.
9. Mark and Recapture Simulation.
10. Population Growth Model
11. Competition Model`
12. Predator-Prey Models
13. Food Web/ Cybernetic Simulation also available in jive
14. Energy flow simulation.
15. Marine Productivity Model.
16. Leaf Litter Decomposition
17. Computer programs for data collection and analysis.

Tietjen Stand-alone Simulations

IMPORTANT NOTE: The following simulations only include the program. For instructions and activities click on the above links.

If you wish, you can Download and Install   stand-alone versions of the ecology and evolution models. These versions will run without a connection to the interne and provide additional functionality. Click on the desired model, tell it to run from it's current location, and just follow the setup directions. For more detailed install procedures, click here. Permission is granted to other instructors to use these programs in their classrooms. All I ask is that you e-mail me telling me how the programs are being used. Suggestions are welcome.

VISTA USERS READ THIS TO RUN THE PROGRAMS

1. Download and Install  Bug key
2. Download and Install  Climate Space Simulation
3. Download and Install  Transpiration Model
4. Download and Install  Selection Simulation (Moth Simulation)
5. Download and Install  Dendogram Widget  Here's the BIG dendogram version for Korn's class!
6. Download and Install  Diversity Calculator
7. Download and Install  Life Table Calculator
8. Download and Install  Game Theory Simulator
9. Download and Install  Population Growth Simulation
10. Download and Install  Competition Simulation
11. Download and Install  Predator-Prey Simulation
12. Download and Install  Cybernetic Simulation. If the other program is too big for  your screen, try this: LittleWeb
13. Download and Install  Food Chain and Energy Flow Simulation
14. Download and Install  Primary Productivity Simulator
15. Download and Install  Marine Productivity Simulator
16. Download and Install  Litter Decomposition Simulator

Mathcad Information and Simulations (Tietjen) NOTE: I have not tried this under Vista. If you run into problems, try THIS FIX (I have not tested the fix).

• Mathcad Explorer is a viewer for *.MCD files (crippled. Will not save files) NOTE: When opening a file you need to set it for MCD files (the default is handbook).

  • A tutorial on Mathcad can be found here (off-site or on-site if first link is broken).

  • If you just want to find out about the editing functions (which is all you need for the models) do this:

    1. Open Mathcad Explorer

    2. Click on "To start, click here now"

    3. Getting Started with Mathcad

    4. Entering Text

    5. And, at the bottom of that page, "edit math expressions"

    6. You just need to be able to position the cursor to change the variables in the yellow portions of the equations.

• NOTE: These programs were written using Mathcad 2000i. They can be be run using Mathcad Explorer (get that HERE). Newer versions of Mathcad may not be associated with the *.mcd extension used for these. Version 14, for example, expects a *.xmcd extension. Here's the work-around: right-click the Mathcad program link and save the program to your desktop. Start your version of Mathcad and then just open it as you would any file.

• NOTE: Collapsed models hide most of the text and formulae so that only the information that is necessary to run the simulation is shown. It both cleans up the screen and makes it easier to run the larger simulations without lots of paging up and down. Run the regular version first. Once you understand the model, run the collapsed version to experiment.

• Population Models 1

• Continuous Generation Population Growth

• Discrete Generation Growth Model NOTE: To watch the movie you need to download this and put it in the same directory as the model.

• Compete (two and three species models) Oddly, this may not work with the non-crippled commercial versions of Mathcad, but it works fine with Mathcad Explorer

• Measuring Species Diversity (just the skeleton layout- Not finished yet)

• Game Theory

• Hardy-Weinburg

• Genetic Drift

• Effective Population Size

• Inbreeding

• Infection Model

• Selection Model and a Collapsed Selection Model

• Spread of Disease

• Mutation and Fixation of an Allele

• Genetic Drift in Bacteria (There's a collapsed model HERE without the text for easier experimentation)

• Haploid Selection

• All programs (ZIP file)

Simulations by other authors that I've collected

• Hardy-Weinberg: A different Approach
• 1 Parameter models of nucleotide change
• Biological Optimization
• Ant Model
• Thermoregulation costs in humans
• Rabbit growth model
• Game of Life

Other Mathcad links

• Lots of Mathcad Models in Biology

Movies, Animations, Sound Clips and the like.

Off-site models

1. EvolGenius
   • Nature Population and Quantitative Genetics
   • Overview of EvolGenius- How it Works
   • EvolGenius Download (DOS- based). On-site
2. USGS Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit Spreadsheet Project (On-site with edited directions)
3. Adaptation (Download Lab and Excel Spreadsheet)
4. Climate Model with Carbon Cycle: Run it.
5. Biomorphs. Visit the Richard Dawkins web page for more information on this concept (see The Blind Watchmaker) Also see here
6. Download ecomaster shareware game. Bid for and trade animals based on their abilities to survive in different environments.
7. Get Animal Quest 4.0 (or Dinosaur Predators)!
8. Free Climate Model from NASA
9. The Aid Game 
   • Introduction
   • How to Play
   • Launch the game
10. Populus (Ecology and Evolution Models)
11. Population Biology Simulations
12. Cellular Automata  (NOTE: These require JAVA. Get the update if they don't run)
    • Majority (Look at this as a model of a single species dispersal)
    • Predator-Prey Model (Modify the operators suggested at the top. Use right-click for the buttons)
    • Block Extinctions (Play with block size to determine how birth rate influences rate of extinction)
13. Evolution and Game Theory Simulations (Very Good Text Material Too- COMPREHENSIVE!)

Ecological and Social Dynamics in Simple Models of Ecosystem Management