Introduction to Mechanistic Spatial Models for Social-Ecological Systems

Abstract

Modelling has played an important role in the development of systems thinking. It remains a central and important tool in theoretical and empirical investigations of social-ecological systems. This chapter provides the context and some of the conceptual and methodological background that will be necessary to understand the examples and models that are discussed in the next chapter, which focuses more explicitly on spatial resilience and presents some more detailed examples. Catering for an interdisciplinary audience is challenging and my intent in this chapter is to provide some background for the interested reader who has a limited background in modelling. Readers who are already highly familiar with the process of modelling and the development of spatial models should feel at liberty to skim or skip this chapter.