Simile

See the Simile web site, http://www.simulistics.com, for information on Simile, sampel models, tutorials, how to download, etc.

Simile was developed specifically to address the needs of ecological and environmental modelling. It uses the familiar System Dynamics (stock-and-flow) notation, but extends it to allow structurally-complex systems to be modelled - spatial models, individual-based models, etc.

At the time of writing this (Feb 2012), Simile is the implementation platform for STEEMI. However, work is underway to develop a somewhat similar (but more limited) web-based modelling platform (Similette). When that happens, you will no longer need to use Simile to participate in STEEMI (as a producer or consumer of models), but of course you may wish to use it for its extra features. All models in the STEEMI model database should be loadable into Simile.

Simile is a commercial product. However, there is a free Evaluation edition which is fully-featured but limits the size of models you can make (or rather, save) to some 20 variables. This is sufficient for many of the simpler models we find in ecology - e.g. two-species predator-prey models, simple age-class models, or simple energy or carbon flow models. So, the simplest thing to do is to download this version of Simile (from here). This should give you the ability to view and run (but not to save edits, for larger models) all the models developed within STEEMI. Please let us know if for some reason a particular model fails to open - this simply means that it was created with a more restricted version of Simile, and we can quickly fix that.

If you would like to contribute to the STEEMI model database, then it is quite likely that you will need a non-restricted version of Simile (i.e. the Standard edition rather than the Evaluation edition). Please contact Simulistics (info - AT - simulistics - DOT - com), and we will discuss this with you.