I have already thought about starting my presentation by apologizing to marine biologists who will be at my seminar on ecosystem modeling. Why? Well, the model we use is sooooooooo simple, all the marine animals are represented by one variable, Z, which stands for zooplankton. All other living things (non-animals) are lumped into P, for phytoplankton.
Should I quit such idealized modeling? No! You would be amazed by how well a simple model can reveal the complex dynamics at work, say behind the oxygen minimum zones in the northern Indian Ocean.