Aphid Population Dynamics in Agricultural Landscapes: An Agent-based Simulation Model

Presently, there are many population models in existence, but these are often case specific, function at a single spatial scale and fail to tackle the complexity arising from individual actions and interactions that exist in the real-world. A spatially explicit agent-based simulation model has been developed to represent aphid population dynamics in agricultural landscapes. Over time, the aphid agents interact with the landscape and with one another. The construction of the model is detailed, including parameterisation and coupling to a geographical information system (GIS). The results show that a spatial modelling approach that considers both landscape properties and factors such as wind speed and direction provides greater insight into aphid population dynamics both spatially and temporally. This forms the basis for the development of further simulation models that can be used to analyse how changes in landscape structure impact upon important species distributions and population dynamics.