ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Theoretical production ecology

Theoretical production ecology is a way of studying how plants and animals interact with each other and their environment in order to produce as much food as possible.

Imagine that you are playing with toys in a sandbox. You have some toy cars, toy trees, and toy animals. In theoretical production ecology, we want to find out how we can make the most food using the toys we have.

First, we need to understand what the toys need in order to grow and make food. The toy trees need sunshine, water, and nutrients from the soil. The toy animals need food from the toy trees and water to drink. The toy cars don't need anything to grow, but they can help us move the other toys around.

Next, we need to figure out how the toys can work together to make the most food. If we put the toy trees in a sunny spot and water them regularly, they will grow big and produce lots of leaves. The toy animals can eat the leaves and grow bigger too. But if we have too many toy animals eating the leaves, the toy trees might not be able to make enough food for everyone.

We also need to think about how the toys might compete with each other for resources. If we put too many toy trees in one spot, they will all be fighting for sunlight and nutrients and won't grow as well. We need to find a balance between having enough toys to make lots of food, but not so many that they can't share the resources fairly.

In theoretical production ecology, scientists use math and computer models to figure out how different plants and animals can work together to produce the most food. They try to understand how changes in the environment, like temperature or rainfall, can affect the food production. This helps us understand how to grow food more efficiently, which is important for feeding people all around the world.