@phdthesis{8534108,
  abstract     = {{Microbial communities are critical for the proper functioning of each and every ecosystem on Earth. The ability to understand the structure and functioning of these complex communities is crucial to manage and protect natural communities, as well as to rationally design engineered microbial communities for important applications ranging from medical and pharmaceutical uses to various bioindustrial processes.
In recent years, synthetic microbial communities have gained increasing interest from microbiologists due to their reduced complexity and increased controllability, which favours them over more complex natural systems for examining ecological theories. In this thesis, the in silico counterpart of this approach was used to test ecological theories relating to biodiversity and functionality through the use of mathematical models. Models are abstractions of reality which allow for the testing of hypotheses in a controlled way. In this thesis, individual-based models of synthetic microbial communities were developed and used in simulation studies to answer research questions relating to community diversity, stability, productivity and functionality. The models are spatially explicit and track through time the characteristics, interactions and activities of every individual in the community. The modelling framework is flexible and thus also extendable to other avenues of research.}},
  author       = {{Daly, Aisling}},
  isbn         = {{9789463570398}},
  keywords     = {{mathematical modelling,microbial ecology,biodiversity,functionality,competition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{XXXIV, 278}},
  publisher    = {{Ghent University. Faculty of Bioscience Engineering}},
  school       = {{Ghent University}},
  title        = {{Putting ecological theories to the test : individual-based simulations of synthetic microbial community dynamics}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}