How many parameters does a RAMAS Metapop model have?
The number of parameters in a model you create in RAMAS Metapop or RAMAS GIS may range from just a few to several thousands, and depends mostly on the amount and quality of data you have (see above). You can model the population dynamics at whatever level of complexity you feel is appropriate. For example, you can model an unstructured model by specifying the number of stages as 1; you can assume stable age distribution instead of entering the initial number of individuals in each age or stage class; you can ignore spatial structure by assuming all correlations to be 1 (or 0), and all dispersal (migration) rates to be at the same rate regardless of distance; you can assume that there is no density dependence in population growth or in migration rates; you can build a deterministic model by setting all standard deviations to 0; if you don’t have data on the demography of each population, you can assume all populations have the same demographic characteristic by copying the parameters of
