Abstract
1. Conservation objectives for non-breeding shorebirds (waders) are determined fromtheir population
size. Individual-based models (IBMs) have accurately predicted mortality rate (a determinant
of population size) of these species, and are a tool for advising coastal management and policy.
However, due to their complexity, the use of these IBMs has been restricted to specialist modellers
in the scientific community, whereas, ideally, they should be accessible to non-specialists with a
direct interest in coastal issues.
2. We describe how this limitation has been addressed by the development of WaderMORPH, a
user-friendly interface to a shorebird IBM,MORPH, that runs within Microsoft Windows. Wader-
MORPH hides technical and mathematical details of parameterisation from the user and allows
models to be parameterised in a series of simple steps. We provide an overview of WaderMORPH
and its range of applications. WaderMORPH, its user guide and an example data set can be downloaded
fromhttp://individualecology.bournemouth.ac.uk.
size. Individual-based models (IBMs) have accurately predicted mortality rate (a determinant
of population size) of these species, and are a tool for advising coastal management and policy.
However, due to their complexity, the use of these IBMs has been restricted to specialist modellers
in the scientific community, whereas, ideally, they should be accessible to non-specialists with a
direct interest in coastal issues.
2. We describe how this limitation has been addressed by the development of WaderMORPH, a
user-friendly interface to a shorebird IBM,MORPH, that runs within Microsoft Windows. Wader-
MORPH hides technical and mathematical details of parameterisation from the user and allows
models to be parameterised in a series of simple steps. We provide an overview of WaderMORPH
and its range of applications. WaderMORPH, its user guide and an example data set can be downloaded
fromhttp://individualecology.bournemouth.ac.uk.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 95–98 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Methods in Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2011 |
Keywords
- climate change
- coastal conservation
- environmental change
- foraging behaviour
- individual-based model
- shellfish management
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecological Modelling
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- General Environmental Science
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
