%0 Magazine Article %D 2005 %T Pattern-oriented modeling of agent-based complex systems: lessons from ecology. %A Grimm,Volker %A Revilla,Eloy %A Berger,Uta %A Jeltsch,Florian %A Mooij, Wolf M. %A Railsback, Steven F. %A Thulke,Hans-Hermann %A Weiner,Jacob %A Wiegand,Thorsten %A DeAngelis, Donald L. %K Analysis %K Ecological research_Analysis %K Ecological research_Methods %K Methods %X

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.

%B Science %V 310 %P 987(5) %8 2005/11/11/ %@ 0036-8075 %G eng