State Space Models for Animal Behaviour

Towards a Unifield Foraging Theory

“…A state variable paradigm has been used by other authors (e.g., Cane 1959, Katz 1974, McCleery 1977, Metz 1977, Craig et al 1979, Putters et al 1984, Root and Kareiva 1984 but not as extensively as we do in this paper. More recently, the techniques of Markovian modeling were applied by Houston and McNamara (1985), Iwasa et al (1984), and Sibly and McCleery (1985) to cases of isolated foraging theory.…”

Application of continuous time markov theory in modeling courtship behavior and copulation rate of the calanoid copepod Eurytemora affinis

“…This modeling approach has several advantages over other approaches. These include the ability to describe systems regardless of their components, the simplicity of the approach (especially when compared with other methods of applying CTM to behavior; e.g., Metz, 1977;Metz et al, 1983;Garcia-Perez et al, 2005), and the considerable reduction of mathematical and model complexity compared with discrete time Markov theory (e.g., Nemecek et al, 1993;Moison, Schmitt, Souissi, Seuront, & Hwang, 2009) and compartmental analyses (e.g., Henson, Dennis, Hayward, Cushing, & Galusha, 2007), which even a brief study of the examples listed will demonstrate. All of the preceding examples depend, to greater or lesser degrees, on the use of differential equations to derive model parameters, often with multiple parameter matrices (see Metz et al, 1983).…”

Holling’s ‘Hungry Mantid’ Model for the Invertebrate Functional Response Considered as a Markov Process. Part 0: A Survey of the Main Ideas and Results

“…To represent our hungry mantid as a Markov process we have to specify a state space, i.e. w~ have to look for a set of characteristics the value of which at any one time contains all information about past events relevant to the prediction of the animal's future behaviour (A more detailed account of the construction of state spaces for animal behaviour can be found in Metz (1977Metz ( , 1981 Holling's mantid, and probably of many other predators as well, are such that all movements off the satiation axis are much more rapid than the downward movement of satiation due to digestion. Since moreover the jumps from the satiation axis are relatively infrequent compared to the return rate to the satiation axis, the main probability mass will be concentrated on the satiation axis itself.…”