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Science 11 November 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5750, pp. 987 - 991
DOI: 10.1126/science.1116681
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Review

Pattern-Oriented Modeling of Agent-Based Complex Systems: Lessons from Ecology

Volker Grimm,1* Eloy Revilla,2 Uta Berger,3 Florian Jeltsch,4 Wolf M. Mooij,5 Steven F. Railsback,6 Hans-Hermann Thulke,1 Jacob Weiner,7 Thorsten Wiegand,1 Donald L. DeAngelis8

Agent-based complex systems are dynamic networks of many interacting agents; examples include ecosystems, financial markets, and cities. The search for general principles underlying the internal organization of such systems often uses bottom-up simulation models such as cellular automata and agent-based models. No general framework for designing, testing, and analyzing bottom-up models has yet been established, but recent advances in ecological modeling have come together in a general strategy we call pattern-oriented modeling. This strategy provides a unifying framework for decoding the internal organization of agent-based complex systems and may lead toward unifying algorithmic theories of the relation between adaptive behavior and system complexity.

1 UFZ Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle, Department Ökologische Systemanalyse, PF 500 136, 04301 Leipzig, Germany.
2 Department of Applied Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Spanish Council for Scientific Research CSIC, Ave. Maria Luisa s/n, E-41013 Seville, Spain.
3 Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie, Fahrenheitstrasse 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
4 Institut für Biochemie und Biologie, Universität Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 2, 14469 Potsdam, Germany.
5 Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Centre for Limnology, Rijksstraatweg 6, 3631 AC Nieuwersluis, Netherlands.
6 Lang, Railsback and Associates and Department of Mathematics, Humboldt State University, 250 California Avenue, Arcata, CA 95521, USA.
7 Botany Section, Department of Ecology, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg, Denmark.
8 U.S. Geological Survey/Florida Integrated Science Centers and Department of Biology, University of Miami, Post Office Box 249118, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: volker.grimm{at}ufz.de

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