Hidden Costs of Modelling Post-fire Plant Community Assembly Using Cellular Automata

Cellular Automata (CA) models have been applied to different fields of knowledge, from cryptography, arts, to the modelling and simulation of complex systems. In the latter area, however, sometimes the ability to properly represent complex interacting but distinct dynamics taking place within a given area is limited by the need of calibrating models in which the number of necessary parameters grows. Hidden costs related to the identification of specific values or plausible ranges for parameters can become overwhelming.