Two approaches to mathematical modelling of processes in laboratory microecosystems: views from inside and outside

The peculiarities of a set of experiments in laboratory microecosystems are considered from the point of view of mathematical modelling of the main processes. Literature data on wheat straw decomposition in a laboratory soil ecosystem are compared with outputs of two mathematical models of plant residues decomposition as an example. Models applied to these data are examined in details. The first of these models is based on notions of the enzymatic nature of the process (‘a view from inside’), the second one presents the idea of the living population succession in the microecosystem (‘a view from outside’). In the same context, we briefly examine here the literature data from the laboratory aquatic microecosystem.