eprintid: 14342 rev_number: 16 eprint_status: archive userid: 5 dir: disk0/00/01/43/42 datestamp: 2017-01-26 09:41:20 lastmod: 2021-08-27 17:28:29 status_changed: 2017-01-26 09:41:20 type: article metadata_visibility: show item_issues_count: 0 creators_name: Zhang, L. creators_name: Dieckmann, U. creators_name: Brännström, Å. creators_id: 1668 creators_id: 8085 creators_orcid: 0000-0001-7089-0393 title: On the performance of four methods for the numerical solution of ecologically realistic size-structured population models ispublished: pub divisions: prog_eep abstract: Size-structured population models (SSPMs) are widely used in ecology to account for intraspecific variation in body size. Three characteristic features of size-structured populations are the dependence of life histories on the entire size distribution, intrinsic population renewal through the birth of new individuals, and the potential accumulation of individuals with similar body sizes due to determinate or stunted growth. Because of these three features, numerical methods that work well for structurally similar transport equations may fail for SSPMs and other transport-dominated models with high ecological realism, and thus their computational performance needs to be critically evaluated. Here, we compare the performance of four numerical solution schemes, the fixed-mesh upwind (FMU) method, the moving-mesh upwind (MMU) method, the characteristic method (CM), and the Escalator Boxcar Train (EBT) method, in numerically solving three reference problems that are representative of ecological systems in the animal and plant kingdoms. The MMU method is here applied for the first time to SSPMs, whereas the three other methods have been employed by other authors. Our results show that the EBT method performs best, except for one of the three reference problems, in which size-asymmetric competition affects individual growth rates. For that reference problem, the FMU method performs best, closely followed by the MMU method. Surprisingly, the CM method does not perform well for any of the three reference problems. We conclude that life-history features should be considered when choosing numerical method. date: 2017-08 date_type: published publisher: Wiley id_number: 10.1111/2041-210X.12741 creators_browse_id: 66 creators_browse_id: 39 full_text_status: public publication: Methods in Ecology and Evolution volume: 8 number: 8 pagerange: 948-956 refereed: TRUE issn: 2041210X coversheets_dirty: FALSE fp7_project: no fp7_type: info:eu-repo/semantics/article citation: Zhang, L., Dieckmann, U. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7089-0393 , & Brännström, Å. (2017). On the performance of four methods for the numerical solution of ecologically realistic size-structured population models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8 (8) 948-956. 10.1111/2041-210X.12741 . document_url: https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/14342/1/On%20the%20performance%20of%20four%20methods%20for%20the%20numerical%20solution.pdf document_url: https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/14342/2/PSPM_SupportingInformation_201703.pdf