Simulating social-ecological systems: the Island Digital Ecosystem Avatars (IDEA) consortium. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Davies, Neil; Field, Dawn; Gavaghan, David; Holbrook, Sally; Planes, Serge; Troyer, Matthias; Bonsall, Michael; Claudet, Joachim; Roderick, George; Schmitt, Russell; Zettler, Linda; Berteaux, Véronique; Bossin, Hervé; Cabasse, Charlotte; Collin, Antoine; Deck, John; Dell, Tony; Dunne, Jennifer; Gates, Ruth; Harfoot, Mike; Hench, James; Hopuare, Marania; Kirch, Patrick; Kotoulas, Georgios; Kosenkov, Alex; Kusenko, Alex; Leichter, James; Lenihan, Hunter; Magoulas, Antonios; Martinez, Neo; Meyer, Chris; Stoll, Benoit; Swalla, Billie; Tartakovsky, Daniel; Murphy, Hinano; Turyshev, Slava; Valdvinos, Fernanda; Williams, Rich; Wood, Spencer;
• Is Part Of: GigaScience. Volume 5:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 4
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Computational ecology -- Biodiversity -- Genomics -- Biocode -- Earth observations -- Social-ecological system -- Ecosystem dynamics -- Climate change scenarios -- Predictive modeling; Information storage and retrieval systems -- Research -- Periodicals; Biology -- Research -- Periodicals; Medical sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Database management -- Periodicals; 570.285
• DOI: 10.1186/s13742-016-0118-5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2047-217X

Abstract

Abstract Systems biology promises to revolutionize medicine, yet human wellbeing is also inherently linked to healthy societies and environments (sustainability). The IDEA Consortium is a systems ecology open science initiative to conduct the basic scientific research needed to build use-oriented simulations (avatars) of entire social-ecological systems. Islands are the most scientifically tractable places for these studies and we begin with one of the best known: Moorea, French Polynesia. The Moorea IDEA will be a sustainability simulator modeling links and feedbacks between climate, environment, biodiversity, and human activities across a coupled marine–terrestrial landscape. As a model system, the resulting knowledge and tools will improve our ability to predict human and natural change on Moorea and elsewhere at scales relevant to management/conservation actions.