WK 13 - An Introduction to the HexSim Spatial Life History Simulator for Ecologists, Conservation Biologists, and Others

Session Description: HexSim (www.hexsim.net) is a powerful, flexible, and modern computational platform for simulating population dynamics, gene flow, disease spread, and other processes across space and time. HexSim is freely available, and has been utilized in >60 peer reviewed publications (https://www.hexsim.net/publications). HexSim models are typically mechanistic, spatially-explicit, and individual based. HexSim does not require any fixed inputs or parameters, and instead allows data availability to drive model design and complexity.

Myriad HexSim applications have examined wildlife population responses to anthropogenic disturbance, including (but not limited to) habitat conversion and loss, the impacts of roads, and climate change. Other studies have examined reintroduction strategies, the spread of invasive species, competition, predation, and parasitism, aquatic migrations, and the impacts of pesticides on listed species. HexSim is frequently applied in both hindcasting and forecasting studies, to explore emergent source-sink dynamics, and to develop metrics of functional landscape connectivity. Recent HexSim applications also include wildfire simulations, spatial epidemiology, and landscape / population genetics. For example, D'Elia (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01410-2) recently published a study in which HexSim was used to simulate the full history of California condor releases into the wild. Mims and coauthors (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-023-01599-w) recently published a HexSim-based study examining the impacts of climate change on a threatened amphibian, while Ransom et. al. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109947) examined the potential for reintroduction strategies to ameliorate climate impacts on grizzly bears. Pili and coauthors (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01468-y) used HexSim to prioritize management strategies intended to control invasive cane toads in Australia. Schumaker et. al. recently used HexSim to develop easy-to-repurpose wildfire (https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081288) and disease spread (https://doi.org/10.3390/land10040438) simulators.

This workshop will introduce participants to the HexSim platform, illustrate model development strategies, and discuss the complete cycle of model design, construction, and application. You will (1) gain an understanding sufficient to begin developing HexSim models on your own, (2) become familiar with the range of existing model documentation and support materials, and (3) learn who to contact if questions or problems arise at a later time. We expect this workshop will be particularly useful for graduate students and postdocs who are interested in adding predictive modeling capabilities to their research.