How are simulation results useful for informing decisions about the real world? Because simulation models precisely replicate real-world biology, the results they produce accurately predict everything that will happen in the real world. Because simulation models capture the essential features of real-world biology, the results they produce always accurately predict basic outcomes in the real world. Because simulation models capture key features of real-world biology, the results they produce can lead to reasonable predictions and further hypotheses about the real world. Because simulation models are not necessarily based on real-world biology, they can generate predictions about species that aren’t yet well studied in the real world.
