ABSTRACT
A major part of the Workshop on Populations, Communities, Ecosystems: An Individual Perspective, consisted of roundtable discussion groups which focused on specific aspects of individual-based models (IBMs). Key objectives were to identify areas of consensus regarding the formulation and application of IBMs, and to define potentially important future directions for research. This chapter briefly summarizes the many points debated during the group discussions. Much of the material included in these discussions has been incorporated. The chapter emphasizes the major areas of consensus reached and the most hopeful future directions. It stimulates others to address some of the issues that emerged during the workshop. IBMs also offer excellent potential to examine questions of natural selection and evolution. Regarding specific applications of IBMs, it was clear that many if not most of the essential models useful in management are of some age- or stage-structured form, and that this was true across all taxonomic lines.
