FISH 501

Ecosystem Modeling with Ecopath with Ecosim

Credit Value

3 credits

Schedule
Term 2, 2024/25

Connect to
UBC Calendar
  • Course Website

    • Description

    The course is focused on how the ecosystem modelling framework Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE, www.ecopath.org) can be used to address scientific questions related to food web modelling, and notably how to address questions as part of an Ecosystem Based Management process. The underlying theories will be introduced throughout, but the emphasis will be on hands-on with actual implementation.

    The FISH 501 class in Term 2 of the 2024/25 winter session I (i.e. January to April 2025) had a large number of guest lectures, and the entire course was held on Zoom and recorded. The recordings are available at the Ecopath YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EcopathwithEcosim. We will use some of the recordings for a “flipped class room” where you are expected to watch a specific recording before class, followed by discussion about the topic topic during class. More about this as we proceed.

    The course will cover a series of topics:

    • Modelling strategy
    • Data requirements and availability
    • Extracting data from online databases, notably FishBase
    • Parameters and mass-balance
    • Economic and social aspects: the value chain from producer to consumer
    • Time-dynamic modeling
      • The foraging arena
      • Fitting ecosystem models to time series data
    • Modeling environmental impacts and mediation
      • Environmental Impact Assessments
    • Uncertainty
      • Monte Carlo approaches
      • Management Strategy Evaluation
    • Introduction to spatial modeling
      • Spatial modelling with habitat capacity/species distribution models
      • Spatial optimization/zoning

    There will be some assignments (for registered students) during the course. Each assignment is intended to take at most 6 hours to complete.

    There are no final or mid-term exams, but at the end of the course, you’ll be asked to give a presentation of your model, followed some weeks later with writing up a mini-paper based on your assignments and presentation.

    Textbook

    We will use the open textbook “Ecosystem Modelling with EwE” for the course. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/ewemodel/

    Software

    Visit www.ecopath.org for information on Ecopath with Ecosim. We will initially be using the latest EwE6.7 release for the course, please download it from www.ecopath.org.

    EwE is a free, open source program, and it (still) requires Microsoft Windows as operating system. On Macs/Linux machines it is necessary to use a virtualization software and to install Windows (any more recent version is fine). There are several virtualization software packages that can be used, including open source ones (i.e. free versions). Oracle’s free VirtualBox may works, but Paralells Desktop is much better and simpler to work with and it is the only option if you have a Macs with Apple M-chips. It can be purchased with education discount at https://www.parallels.com/plans/education. Please try to sort this out before the course, or discuss with Villy.

    We are working on a systems-independent (for PC, Mac & Linux) version of EwE, (EwE7), but still need to secure funding for this.

    Instructor:

    Dr. Villy Christensen