Modelling or muddling? Some comments on the application of systems research techniques

Abstract

Science has now advanced to a stage where many of the individual processes that make up biological phenomena are understood and documented. As a result of this comprehension, it is now possible to investigate in detail the interactions between individual components of a biological system and it is this field of endeavour which is covered by systems research. Systems research is, in simple terms, the study of a system as a whole rather than as separate parts. Instead of studying only the biological processes making up a disease such as barley leaf rust, the systems researcher might investigate the disease in the context of the on-farm situation. In this case, he would need to consider simultaneously not only the pathogen-host interaction per se but also the effects of weather, time of sowing, farm location and previous control decisions.