Abstract
Population dynamics has commonly been explored in high-school and undergraduate-level courses in ecology. The techniques used for teaching population dynamics can provide students with the required basic information for learning fundamental concepts in population ecology. However, population dynamics is a complex branch of population ecology that has an essentially quantitative nature. The effective assimilation of this topic should consider basic aspects of population theory, which involves the conceptual understanding of mathematical models. In this study, we propose an alternative methodology for teaching basic concepts of population ecology at the high-school and undergraduate levels, using mathematical models and numerical simulations on a microcomputer. We also show how an instructor or researcher can combine experimentation and theoretical ecology to produce simulations based on the ecology and biology of organisms. The study also suggests a way for teachers and professors to analyze population patterns with real data.
Highlights
Models play an essential role in all of the sciences
We offer an alternative methodology for use at the high-school level and for undergraduate university students, to teach the basic concepts of population ecology using mathematical models and numerical simulations on a microcomputer, combined with laboratory experiments
Population dynamics has commonly been explored in Brazilian high schools as a part of the subject of ecology (Amabis & Martho, 2005), and in this context has involved interesting techniques for learning, which have been in regular use for several years
Summary
Models play an essential role in all of the sciences They may range from simple regression expressions to complex numerical simulations. We offer an alternative methodology for use at the high-school level and for undergraduate university students, to teach the basic concepts of population ecology using mathematical models and numerical simulations on a microcomputer, combined with laboratory experiments. Three models are used to show basic ecological concepts: a density-independent population-growth model; a density-dependent model (logistic model); and a density-dependent model incorporating two density-dependent processes, fecundity (F) and survival (S), functions of immatures, nt This last model was developed to describe the population dynamics of flies, and in the current proposal their simulation results were obtained from real data (Godoy et al, 1993). With these three models it is possible for readers to understand the main differences between ecological processes and define different theoretical structures for models, with emphasis on density dependence and population dynamics
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