This paper focuses on those parts of 20th century applied mathematics which have entered into the toolkit of ecology. Historically, the recent trend of applying mathematics to ecology is dis-cussed. It is proposed that this new development can be seen in the extension of its application as the natural development of applied mathematics. There is no assumption that the mathe-matical concepts and methods employed would be significantly different from those used in mainstream applied mathematics. In terms of estimates for reference to empirical data, con-ventional concepts and methods of statistical physics can be successfully applied. A case study on the history of statistics and operational research discusses several ways to integrate the de-velopment of applied mathematics of the twentieth century into a ecological context.
Key words: Mathematics; Applied Mathematics; Ecology; development; Model Ecosystem
|