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Don DeAngelis, Ph.D.

Don DeAngelis is a Senior Scientist and Research Ecologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center. 

RESEARCH

Donald DeAngelis is an ecologist, specializing in mathematical and simulation modeling.  He was one of the early developers of individual-based modeling (IBM) in population ecology, and has applied IBM to fish and other populations. Among his other interests are modeling of vegetation succession, nutrient cycling, mutualistic interactions, and food webs. He is coordinator of the Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program, a multi-project, multi-investigator program with the objective of providing simulation models to assist Everglades restoration.

BACKGROUND

1994-present, Ecologist, U. S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Florida Caribbean Science Center, Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124 Research Faculty Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Miami

Editor, The American Naturalist, 2004 -present

Editorial Boards

Currently: Ecological Complexity

Previously: Ecosystems, Mathematical Biosciences, Ecology, Ecological Monographs, Nonlier World, Journal of Aquatic Stress and Recovery Awards Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1983 Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. Technical Publications Award, 1986 Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. Technical Publications Award, 1987 First Place, 1990 International Technical Publication Competition, sponsored by the Society for Technical Communication Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., Technical Publications Award, 1991

Grants 'Spatial Gradients in Nutrient Recycling and Their Effect on Stream Ecosystem Stability'. National Science Foundation, April 1, 1991 - March 31, 1994, $1,419,019. Co-Principal Investigators, D. L. DeAngelis and P. J. Mulholland

'Compensatory Mechanisms in Fish Populations', Electric Power Research Institute. 1988 - 1996. Approximately $1 million per year. Principal Investigator, W. Van Winkle. D. L.

DeAngelis developed the approach used and wrote the initial funded proposal 'Synthesis of Species-Population Dynamics and Ecosystem Processes: Theoretical Study of the Stability and Development of Food Web Structure'. National Science Foundation, United States - Japan Cooperative Science Program. January 1, 1991 - December 31, 1992.Co-Principal Investigators, E. Teramoto and D. L. DeAngelis. Environmental Sciences Division Scientific Achievement Award for 1982 Areas of Focus Conservation and Restoration Biology Mathematical and Theoretical Biology

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science (Plasma Physics), Yale University, 1972

    B.S., Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1966

Science and Products

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Image: Florida Everglades

Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program for the Greater Everglades

Goals of the ATLSS Program are to help achieve a better understanding of components of the Everglades ecosystem, to provide an integrative tool for empirical studies, and to apply these tools to an adaptive management framework.
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Land Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program for the Greater Everglades

Goals of the ATLSS Program are to help achieve a better understanding of components of the Everglades ecosystem, to provide an integrative tool for empirical studies, and to apply these tools to an adaptive management framework.
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Melaleuca

Decision Analysis to Help Improve the Effectiveness of Invasive Plants Management

Melaleuca is an invasive tree that is highly problematic in the Everglades, threatening native wildlife and habitat. USGS is helping to improve management strategies for the invasive plant.
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Ecosystems, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Land Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Decision Analysis to Help Improve the Effectiveness of Invasive Plants Management

Melaleuca is an invasive tree that is highly problematic in the Everglades, threatening native wildlife and habitat. USGS is helping to improve management strategies for the invasive plant.
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Apple-snail-in-hand: Photo credit: John Brandauer

Joint Ecosystem Modeling: EverSnail

EverSnail, developed in collaboration with the University of West Florida, is an age- and size-structured spatially-explicit landscape model of native apple snails (Pomacea paludosa).
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Ecosystems, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Joint Ecosystem Modeling: EverSnail

EverSnail, developed in collaboration with the University of West Florida, is an age- and size-structured spatially-explicit landscape model of native apple snails (Pomacea paludosa).
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Satellite map of the study area, Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge

Assessing the Past and Potential Future Impacts of Salt Water Intrusion on Tidal Swamp Habitat along the South Atlantic Coast

Using historical aerial photogrammetry, satellite imagery, or recent vegetation mapping efforts, as well as various models, USGS investigates salt water intrusion impacts on coastal habitats along the southern Atlantic coast.
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Ecosystems, Land Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Assessing the Past and Potential Future Impacts of Salt Water Intrusion on Tidal Swamp Habitat along the South Atlantic Coast

Using historical aerial photogrammetry, satellite imagery, or recent vegetation mapping efforts, as well as various models, USGS investigates salt water intrusion impacts on coastal habitats along the southern Atlantic coast.
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USGS science for a changing world logo

Developing the next generation of USGS resource assessments

Resource assessments constitute a key part of the USGS mission, and represent a crucial contribution toward Department of the Interior (DOI) and broader Federal objectives. Current USGS energy and mineral assessment methods evaluate total technically recoverable resources (energy) or economically exploitable materials (minerals); the fiscal year 2010 budget for this work is $82M. To help stakehol
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
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Developing the next generation of USGS resource assessments

Resource assessments constitute a key part of the USGS mission, and represent a crucial contribution toward Department of the Interior (DOI) and broader Federal objectives. Current USGS energy and mineral assessment methods evaluate total technically recoverable resources (energy) or economically exploitable materials (minerals); the fiscal year 2010 budget for this work is $82M. To help stakehol
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Everglades - stock image

How will Florida’s Biodiversity Respond to Climate Change?

Florida is home to 50 endangered species, 23 National Wildlife Refuges, 9 national parks, and 119 state parks. Straddling both temperate and sub-tropical zones, the state is also unique in that it is a long and narrow peninsula, surrounded on three sides by warm water, creating a dynamic environment. The impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and severe storms, threaten the state’s uniq...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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How will Florida’s Biodiversity Respond to Climate Change?

Florida is home to 50 endangered species, 23 National Wildlife Refuges, 9 national parks, and 119 state parks. Straddling both temperate and sub-tropical zones, the state is also unique in that it is a long and narrow peninsula, surrounded on three sides by warm water, creating a dynamic environment. The impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and severe storms, threaten the state’s uniq...
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Data for aerial dispersal of Lygodium microphyllum spores within Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 2003 - 2004

Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br.) is an invasive plant species threatening South Florida ecosystems. In 1989 L. microphyllum was observed in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. L. microphyllum has attributes that allow it to thrive in South Florida. It produces a huge number of small spores that are easily suspended by wind and dispersed, have a
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Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Scaling antibiotic efficacy from cells to metapopulations

The data are population sizes of yeast Saccharaomyces cerevisiae growth in laboratory cultures over a period of several days with different levels of growth inhibitor cycloheximide and of nutrient levels.
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Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Modeling soil pore water salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands

Model generated soil pore water salinity (psu) values under scenarios of drought and normal conditions at Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) sites along the Waccamaw River and Savannah River in the Southeastern United States.
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Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Carrying capacity in a heterogeneous environment with habitat connectivity

The data are population sizes of yeast Saccharaomyces cerevisiae growth in laboratory cultures over a period of several days with different levels of growth inhibitor cycloheximide.
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Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Filter Total Items: 181

A generically parameterized model of Lake eutrophication: The impact of Stoichiometric ratios and constraints on the abundance of natural phytoplankton communities (GPLake-S)

Water quality improvement to avoid excessive phytoplankton blooms often requires eutrophication management where both phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) play a role. While empirical eutrophication studies and ecological resource competition theory both provide insight into phytoplankton abundance in response to nutrient loading, they are not seamlessly linked in the current state of eutrophication re
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Wading bird foraging on a wetland landscape: A comparison of two strategies

Tactile-feeding wading birds, such as wood storks and white ibises, require high densities of prey such as small fishes and crayfish to support themselves and their offspring during the breeding season. Prey availability in wetlands is often determined by seasonal hydrologic pulsing, such as in the subtropical Everglades, where spatial distributions of prey can vary through time, becoming heteroge
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Aerial dispersal of Lygodium microphyllum spores within Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Native across the Old World tropics from Africa to Southeast Asia and Australia, Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br. (Old World Climbing Fern) is one of the most invasive plant species threatening South Florida ecosystems (Rodgers et al. 2014). This invasive fern was first collected as a naturalized plant in South Florida in the late 1960s (Beckner 1968). Subsequent populations were observed in th
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Modeling the impact of invasive species litter on conditions affecting its spread and potential regime shift

Many introduced plants pose invasion risks globally and threaten the biodiversity of native ecosystems. Such non-native plants can become invasive when they have advantages over native plants, such as having fewer natural enemies. Invasive plants often have the ability to alter ecosystem properties after they have become established, which can make it difficult to eliminate the invasive. In princi
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Hierarchical functional response of a forager on a wetland landscape

We show that for some foragers the form that a functional response takes depends on the temporal and spatial scales considered. In representing the consumption rate of an organism, it may be necessary to use a hierarchy of functional responses. Consider, for example, a wading bird foraging in wetland landscape characterized by a spatial distribution of potential foraging sites, such as ponds. At t
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Periodic oscillation and tri-stability in mutualism systems with two consumers

This paper considers mutualistic interactions between two consumers, in which one consumer can consume a resource only by exchange of service for service with the other. By rigorous analysis on the one-resource and two-consumer model with Holling-type I response, we show periodic oscillations and tri-stability in the mutualism system: when their initial densities decrease, the consumers' interacti
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Towards building a sustainable future: Positioning ecological modelling for impact in ecosystems management

As many ecosystems worldwide are in peril, efforts to manage them sustainably require scientific advice. While numerous researchers around the world use a great variety of models to understand ecological dynamics and their responses to disturbances, only a small fraction of these models are ever used to inform ecosystem management. There seems to be a perception that ecological models are not usef
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Development and validation of a spatially-explicit agent-based model for space utilization by African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) based on determinants of movement

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are well-studied and inhabit diverse landscapes that are being transformed by both humans and natural forces. Most tools currently in use are limited in their ability to predict how elephants will respond to novel changes in the environment. Individual-, or agent-based modeling (ABM), may extend current methods in addressing and predicting spatial responses t
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Modeling structural mechanics of oyster reef self-organization including environmental constraints and community interactions

Self-organization is a process of establishing and reinforcing local structures through feedbacks between internal population dynamics and external factors. In reef-building systems, substrate is collectively engineered by individuals that also occupy it and compete for space. Reefs are constrained spatially by the physical environment, and by mortality, which reduces production but exposes substr
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Carrying capacity of spatially distributed metapopulations

Carrying capacity is a key concept in ecology. A body of theory, based on the logistic equation, has extended predictions of carrying capacity to spatially distributed, dispersing populations. However, this theory has only recently been tested empirically. The experimental results disagree with some theoretical predictions of when they are extended to a population dispersing randomly in a two-patc
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

The ODD protocol for describing agent-based and other simulation models: A second update to improve clarity, replication, and structural realism

The Overview, Design concepts and Details (ODD) protocol for describing Individual- and Agent-Based Models (ABMs) is now widely accepted and used to document such models in journal articles. As a standardized document for providing a consistent, logical and readable account of the structure and dynamics of ABMs, some research groups also find it useful as a workflow for model design. Even so, ther
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

An overview of agent-based models in plant biology and ecology

Agent-based modeling (ABM) has become an established methodology in many areas of biology, ranging from the cellular to the ecological population and community levels. In plant science, two different scales have predominated in their use of ABM. One is the scale of populations and communities, through the modeling of collections of agents representing individual plants, interacting with each other
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Ecosystems, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Ecological Modelling Special Edition Dedicated to USGS WARC Researcher Donald DeAngelis

A special edition of the journal Ecological Modelling has been dedicated to Donald DeAngelis, U.S. Geological Survey Research Ecologist, in honor of...

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