Ecology and Society - Vol. 3, No. 2 (1999)

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Managing the Resilience of Lakes: A Multi-agent Modeling Approach

Marco A Janssen, Indiana University
Stephen R Carpenter, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Abstract
We demonstrate an approach for integrating social and ecological models to study ecosystem management strategies. We focus on the management of lake eutrophication. A model has been developed in which the dynamics of the lake, the learning dynamics of society, and the interactions between ecology and society are included. Analyses with the model show that active learning is important to retain the resilience of lakes. Although very low levels of phosphorus in the water will not be reached, active learning reduce the chance of catastrophic high phosphorus levels.

Key words
active learning, eutrophication, integrated modeling, lake dynamics, lake management, multi-agent modeling, phosphorus, resilience, restoration, simulation

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