Hanno Hildenbrandt
Project: Starlings in flight: the STARFLAG project
Areal displays of vast flocks of starlings at dusk is one of the most stunning examples of collective behaviour. The amazing coherence of flocks of thousands, their plasticity in shape and density, rapid and seemingly co-ordinated turns and twists – how these feats are accommodated are poorly understood. To bring some light into the mechanism and organisation of such superflocks is the aim of the STARFLAG project.
I am developing a simulation-model in 3D capable to reproduce as many patterns observed in real starlings as possible. The main question for me is which patterns may arise by self-organisation with only local information available and for which ones more global information is needed? Beside the suitability to include a huge number of individuals, the model considers basic physical constrains of bird flight to respect the given flight performance of the starlings. More than once was the model refined due to new experimental and empirical data gathered by the project partners. The patterns emerging in the model, both static and dynamic, now resemble those observed in real starlings.
A demo-version of the model can be downloaded here . As a real-time simulation, the program requires a graphic card supporting OpenGL 2.0 (i.e., supporting 3D-gaming; an error message in the file data/log.txt commonly indicates insufficient graphic support) and WinXP. You may have to install the recent C++ run time libraries first (download).
Publications
Reid D.A.P., Hildenbrandt H., Padding J.T., & Hemelrijk C.K. (2012): Fluid dynamics of moving fish in a two-dimensional multiparticle collision dynamics model. Physical Review E 85, 021901. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K. & Hildenbrandt H. (2011): Some causes of the variable shape of flocks of birds. PLoS ONE 6, e22479, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022479. pdf
Becher M.A., Hildenbrandt H., Hemelrijk C.K. & Moritz R.F.A. (2010): Brood temperature, task division and colony survival in honeybees: A model. Ecol. Mod. 221, 769-776. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K., Hildenbrandt H., Reinders J. & Stamhuis E.J. (2010): Emergence of oblong school shape: Models and empirical data of fish. Ethology 116, 1099–1112. pdf
Hildenbrandt H., Carere C. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2010): Self-organized aerial displays of thousands of starlings: a model. Behav. Ecol. 21, 1349-1359. pdf
Puga-Gonzalez I., Hildenbrandt H. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2009): Emergent patterns of social affiliation in primates, a model. PLoS Comput. Biol. 5, e1000630, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000630 pdf
Reid D.A.P., Hildenbrandt H., Padding J.T. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2009): Flow around fishlike shapes studied using multiparticle collision dynamics. Physical Review E 79, 046313. pdf
Berger U., Rivera-Monroy V.H., Doyle T.W., Dahdouh-Guebas F., Duke N.C., Fontalvo-Herazo M.L., Hildenbrandt H., Koedam N., Mehlig U., Piou C. & Twilley R.R. (2008): Advances and limitations of individual-based models to analyze and predict dynamics of mangrove forests: A review. Aquatic Botany 89, 260–274. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K. & Hildenbrandt H. (2008): Self-organised shape and frontal density of fish schools. Ethology 114, 245-254. pdf
Piou C., Berger U., Hildenbrandt H. & Feller I.C. (2008): Testing the intermediate disturbance hypothesis in species-poor systems: A simulation experiment for mangrove forests. J. Veg. Sci. 19, 417-424. pdf
Piou C., Berger U., Hildenbrandt H., Grimm V., Diele K. & D'Lima C. (2007): Simulating cryptic movements of a mangrove crab: Recovery phenomena after small scale fishery. Ecol. Model. 205, 110-122. pdf
Berger U., Adams M., Grimm V. & Hildenbrandt H. (2006): Modelling secondary succession of neotropical mangroves: causes and consequences of growth reduction in pioneer species. Perspectives in Plant Ecoloy, Evolution and Systematics 7, 243-242. pdf
Hildenbrandt H., Mueller M.S. & Grimm V. (2006): How to detect and visualize extinction thresholds for structured PVA models. Ecol. Model. 191, 554-550. pdf
Berger U., Hildenbrandt H. & Grimm V. (2004): Age-related decline in forest production: modelling the effects of growth limitation, neighbourhood competition and self-thinning J. Ecol. 92, 846-853. pdf
Scientific Career
2010 - recent
Scientific Programmer in the Behavioural Ecology & Self-organization Group, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
2005 - 2010
Postdoctoral researcher in the Theoretical Biology Group, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
2003 - 2005
Postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology, University of Bremen, Germany
2003
PhD in Biology/Chemistry, University of Bremen, Germany
1996
Diploma in in Physics, University of Marburg, Germany
| Last modified: | December 03, 2012 15:03 |