helpful in identifying critical factors for population management. Tony Starfield (University of Minneapolis) described another population simulation model and showed how a different approach to modelling is required when many parameters and their ranges are unknown. Unlike engineering applications, models should not be used to seek optimal solutions, but instead to identify and minimize risks....

In On the Nature of Th ings , Lucretius speculates on the necessity of plant development: Branching trees simply do not “leap” from the turf, rather, the branching patterns of shoots and roots develop over time, “slowly increas[sing] from [their] lawful seed” ( Leonard, 2015 ). Over 2000 years ago, the essence of the plant phenotype was written in a poem; plants are four-dimensional beings, bra...