Evolving difference equations to model freshwater phytoplankton

Abstract

The underlying dynamics of algal species in freshwater systems are a complex non-linear problem. Process-based models have been previously developed to describe the time varying behaviour of chlorophyll-a, a measure of algal concentration, for these systems. This paper describes the application of a genetic programming equation discovery system to study various generalisations of a process-based model based on a time series difference equation.