Network Modelling for Agricultural Ecosystems
Date and Time
Location
Summerlee Science Complex Room 1511
Details
SPEAKER: Steffen Klaere, University of Auckland, New Zealand (visitor University of Waterloo)
ABSTRACT:
The word "sustainable" has become a keyword in the modern food industry. But a quantitative meaning of the term is still lacking. The term can mean different things depending on the viewpoint of the person one asks. In a 7-year study the New Zealand Winegrowing industry together with academic partners attempts to quantify "sustainability" from a combined ecological and economical viewpoint.
Within the project a large amount of data is created and the impact of management on the individual aspects assessed. Causal links and interactions are then investigated using graphical models. Graphical models permit a probabilistic assessment of interactions within a complex system, and to make predictions on outcomes for specific aspects.
In this talk I will present the challenges and findings we faced when building graphical models from our vineyard data from the first two vintages. I will in particular discuss some of the data manipulation issues and the challenges of visualising uncertainty in networks.