BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

HERD EFFECTS 1)2)4)

The protective effects for individuals resulting from congregation in considerable numbers.

Such effects can be observed in numerous different animal species: fish shoals, nesting birds, gregarious mammals, insects flights, etc…

Those individuals at the center of the herd are better protected because they are completely surrounded by individuals of the same species which are not dangerous to them. The peripherical individuals are more at risk because, on the outer ring, they are in direct contact with the space of possible predators. In most cases "insiders" and "outsiders" rotate, which is globally efficient for the whole flock.

Observing nesting birds, Diane BRUNTON (Yale University) discovered that the central area is at a disadvantage when the predator is airborne, thus able to make use of the third dimension. In that case, the central density of the flock offers increased opportunities to the predator.

(Source: The Economist, Oct. 18th 1997)

Edge effect

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]


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