A General Overview of Formal Languages for Individual-Based Modelling of Ecosystems

Various formal languages have been proposed in the literature for the individual-based modelling of ecological systems. These languages differ in their treatment of time and space. Each modelling language offers a distinct view and techniques for analyzing systems. Most of the languages are based on process calculi or P systems. In this article, we present a general overview of the existing modelling languages based on process calculi. We also discuss, briefly, other approaches such as P systems, cellular automata and Petri nets. Finally, we show advantages and disadvantages of these modelling languages and we propose some future research directions.