Figure 7

Importance of performing multiple simulation runs. The importance of performing multiple simulation runs (instead of a single run) can be seen by comparing abundances for maximum, minimum and average cases. Four sample scenarios are shown. Subfigures (1) and (2) refer to the non-targeted, random removal of aquatic habitats (scenarios C1 and C2, respectively, from Figures 5-6) using an absorbing boundary. Subfigures (3) and (4) refer to the same scenarios, using a non-absorbing boundary. For each scenario, the results are derived from 50 replicated runs. The maximum, minimum and average represent the maximum, minimum and average abundance values obtained across all 50 replicated runs in each time-step, respectively. The average case is used in all simulations reported in this study. Note that the scales along y-axes of the subfigures are purposefully modified (zoomed in) to highlight the actual differences between the three cases. See Additional file 5 for the landscapes.