How do ecologists ues modeling?

As we know, ecologists study living things in their nonliving environment.  For example, they could use a mathematical model to predict the weather in a few years, helping them figure out the population of the animals.  They can use a physical model to compare on a diagram the population of different animals in different areas.  Hope this helps, since I'm still 8th grade and science isn't exactly my best subject, but I tried.    :)