Interacting with the Physical World
The Biocomplexity Network is a group of biologists, social scientists, computer programmers, geographers, and others who have been working together to develop new ways to study complex biological-environmental-social systems so that we can do a better job of reversing the declines of endangered species.
“Biocomplexity” refers to systems that consist of interactions between biological processes, the physical world, and human activities. An example of this is the connection between the number of lake trout in Lake Michigan and factors such as the reproductive rate of the trout, the number that are caught by fishermen, the presence of lamprey that attack the fish, and the water quality of the lake and spawning areas.
Many factors relate directly to human activity such as the number of people living near the lake, sewage treatment plants, the amount of sediment that washes into the lake from rivers that drain farmland and suburbs, and the numbers of invasive zebra mussels (originally introduced by ships) in the lake. Predicting how many fish will be available for fishermen requires understanding all of these factors and how they affect one another.
The Chicago Zoological Society is contributing its expertise in conservation science to further the work of the network. One contribution is VORTEX, a software program developed by the Society that simulates changes in wildlife populations. Another software program the Society is developing, the Meta-Model Manager, will allow VORTEX and other software programs, such as global warming and human land development simulators, to work together and exchange data.
This will allow conservation scientists to study how changes in land use are impacted by climate change, and how land use and climate change in turn affect wildlife populations. This ultimately will allow us to explore how the changes we make in our activities can have cascading effects on the natural world around us. The software can be utilized by wildlife managers, conservation planners, researchers and by students who want to learn about how human activities impact wildlife.