Abstract

The presentation will introduce a stochastic conceptual model of two interacting species with discrete, non-overlapping generations and the stochastic and deterministic mathematical models based on it. It is built on work of Sumpter and co-authors and models interactions such as competition, predator-prey, symbiosis or parasitism. A software-toolbox which simulates the development of the populations based on the conceptual model will be introduced. This was created to allow in silico experimentation for students at an elementary level. In addition to simulations the conceptual model allows a bottom-up derivation of several classes of difference equations in dimension two. The stochastic foundation of the deterministic models ensures biological consistency and therefore provides a good motivation to investigate their qualitative properties.