Simulation of insect disease dynamics: an application of SERB to a rangeland ecosystem

Abstract

An object-oriented simulation program, SERB (Simulation En vironment for Research Biologists), has been used to simulate insect disease dynamics in a rangeland ecosystem. SERB was used to construct a mechanistic simulation model of a fungal pathogen of grasshoppers by synthesizing experimentally derived compo nents. Emphasis is placed on how SERB was used to construct and evaluate the model both in a piece-wise and combined manner to aid in understanding population interactions and dynamics. The interactive nature of SERB in the ZetaLisp environ ment was found to be highly conducive to model construction, manipulation and evaluation. Detailed examples from several phases of this process are presented from the perspective of a population bioligist. The orientation of SERB allows the research er to focus on a problem in an intuitive and systematic manner, in biological terms, unconstrained by details of an unfamiliar programming environment.