Dynamica
Price: £74.00 + postage/VAT
Dynamica allows the user to explore how animal populations and communities change through time. The program uses a
long-term data set from the Severn Estuary, England. Since 1980 fish and crustacean samples have been collected from
Hinkley Point 'B' Power Station.
Data are presented on every fish and most large crustaceans known from the estuary, producing an exceptional data set
for those interested in population dynamics.
Users can explore real data, and reach their own conclusions about how animal numbers are inter-related and change
through time. The data consist of monthly abundance estimates of fish and crustaceans from January 1981 to January
1995. Time series for more than one hundred species are available for study. Details about data collection and habitat
are also given. Dynamica was designed as a research tool to help explore the complex inter-relationships between
species and environmental factors such as temperature, salinity and tides.
The strong theme running through Dynamica is the study of community-level dynamics. Books often portray communities and
food webs as static entities. This program will show you just how dynamic food webs are. Perhaps the most popular
community statistic is a diversity index; Dynamica will let you compare different indices and appreciate how they
change through time. Dynamica has been designed to be useful to anyone with an interest in natural time series. It
presents a range of elementary techniques for time series analysis, including data transformations, autocorrelations,
moving averages and fourier analysis. The program presents a wide range of natural dynamic behaviours which make good
examples for study.
One of the most vivid features of Dynamica is its
animated food web, which demonstrates
clearly how dynamic and variable a food web is through time. In a few minutes' exploration you can gain much insight
into the dynamics of natural systems. Having developed a feel for the data a student can then move on to form and test
hypotheses on subjects such as the role of temperature, salinity or predator-prey interactions.