Table 3.

Major developments that have made individual-based modeling (IBM) and ecology (IBE) more productive.

Development	Benefits
ODD protocol for describing IBMs (Grimm et al. 2010); TRACE (Grimm et al. 2014) protocol for documenting model development, analysis, and application	Standardized and thorough methods for describing IBMs and the modeling process make models and their results easier to understand and replicate; protocols also improve model design by providing a comprehensive list of concepts that need to be considered.
Pattern oriented modeling (Grimm and Railsback 2005, 2012)	Provides an efficient strategy based on observed patterns for designing IBMs, developing theory and submodels for individual traits, and parameterizing models; validates models by comparing results to multiple patterns observed at levels from individual behavior to population or community processes making them more likely to capture essential mechanisms of the real system.
IBM software platforms	Compared with using general programming languages, IBMs can be programmed more rapidly, by users with less experience, and with more built-in observation and analysis tools.
Generalized IBM software	Whole classes of IBM can be developed rapidly; models do not need to be recoded for each new study system; only the parameters need to be changed.
Standardized submodels	IBM components such as behavioral traits, energy budgets, and interactions are standardized and can be implemented by just changing parameter values.