Southern Research Station

Title: Chaos and insect ecology

Author: Logan, Jesse A.; Hain, Fred P.

Date: 1990

Source: In: Does Chaos Exist in Ecological Systems?: 1-91

Description: Recent advances in applied mathematical analysis have uncovered a fascinating and unexpected dynamical richness that underlies behavior of even the simplest non-linear mathematical models. Due to the complexity of solutions to these non-linear equations, a new mathematical term, chaos, has been coined to describe the resulting dynamics. This term captures the notion that in spite of the fact that these equations are purely deterministic, the resulting time dynamics are for all practical purposes indistinguishable from a purely random or stochastic process. A unique aspect to this new revolution in the esoteric arena of non-linear mathematics is the fact that it has captured the imagination of the public at large, and is even the subject of a New York Times leading best seller (James Gleik, Chaos: Making a New Science). The popular interest in chaos is at least in part due to the fact that solution sets are often represented as fractals, resulting in complex and strangely beautiful geometric patterns (fractals are, themselves, the subject of numerous popular books). Although the subject of chaos has its lighter side, it has also formed the basis of serious science.

Keywords: 

View and Print this Publication (21.4 MB)

Pristine Version:  An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (22.2 MB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Logan, Jesse A.; Hain, Fred P.  1990.  Chaos and insect ecology.   In: Does Chaos Exist in Ecological Systems?: 1-91