Modeling community population dynamics with the open-source language R.
The ability to explain biological phenomena with mathematics and to generate predictions from mathematical models is critical for understanding and controlling natural systems. Concurrently, the rise in open-source software has greatly increased the ease at which researchers can implement their own mathematical models. With a reasonably sound understanding of mathematics and programming skills, a researcher can quickly and easily use such tools for their own work. The purpose of this chapter is to expose the reader to one such tool, the open-source programming language R, and to demonstrate its practical application to studying population dynamics. We use the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey dynamics as an example.
Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98185, USA.
Robin
R
Green
Wenying
W
Shou
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012984:Software