Exploring a Marine Ecosystem with a General Complex Adaptive System Model

The classic Lotka-Volterra equations present a mathematically robust and well-validated set of idealized equations for describing the predator-prey relationship found in many domains. Here we present results of formulating these equations using a Complex Adaptive Systems model, simulated using Agent-based Modeling techniques. This method allows for (a) closer study of the complex dynamics that are found in these systems, (b) greater understanding of the agent interactions, and (c) more realistic simulation outputs. In so doing, we have uncovered a novel relationship between the amount of resources found at the lowest tropic level of a hypothesized ecosystem and the highest tropic level predators. We explore these results in detail, and highlight their applicability to a real-world marine ecosystem.