The understanding of gene movement in plant species is critical to the management of both plant and animal species reliant on that plant. Pollen is the mechanism by which plants pass their genetic material from one generation to the next. Pollen dispersal studies have focused primarily on purely random diffusion processes, while this may be a good assumption for species pollinated mainly by abiotic means, such as wind, it is most likely an over simplification for species that are pollinated by biotic means, such as insects [3]. Correlated random walk (CRW) models are a model of animal movement [10] and have been successfully used to explore the movement of animals in varying ecological contexts [1]. An agent-based model (ABM) is developed to describe pollen movement via insects as a correlated random walk (CRW). This model is used to explore how insect path lengths and pollen distribution are affected by the varying turning angle and plant density.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2725 |
| Date | 30 April 2009 |
| Creators | Foster, Erich |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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