Multispecies models for population dynamics: Progress, challenges and
future directions
- Jonatan Marquez,
- Stefan Vriend,
- Emily G. Simmonds,
- Marie V. Henriksen,
- Lisa Sandal,
- Marlène Gamelon,
- Christophe Coste,
- Knut Hovstad,
- Aline Magdalena Lee
Stefan Vriend
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Author ProfileEmily G. Simmonds
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Author ProfileMarie V. Henriksen
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research
Author ProfileLisa Sandal
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Author ProfileAline Magdalena Lee
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Author ProfileAbstract
Understanding how population dynamics are influenced by species
interactions and the surrounding community is crucial for addressing
many ecological questions, but requires modelling of complex systems
involving direct, indirect and often asymmetric species interactions.
Progress in developing multispecies models that can tackle this task is
being made in multiple subfields of ecology, often with varying
approaches and end goals but also facing shared challenges. We review
some of the main challenges and the ways in which they are being
addressed, highlighting a wide variety of methods that can support the
development of multispecies models for understanding population
dynamics. The main challenges that we examine are estimation of species
interactions from limited data, the necessity of simplifications, and
handling uncertainty in complex, multispecies models. In addition to
reviewing a wide variety of approaches and methods for dealing with
these challenges, we discuss future directions and make suggestions for
how we believe the development of multispecies models for understanding
population dynamics can move forward more efficiently.