1. Plant-Moose-Predator System Simulation
Anastasia Mironova
CS 470

2. Project Overview Goal: Why:
Develop an agent-based simulation to model plant-moose-predator system behavior
Client is Dr. Donald Spalinger, Department of Biological Sciences, Professor and Chair
Why:
To assist scientists in codifying current hypotheses and axioms regarding the growth and defense responses of plants to herbivore foraging patterns and foraging efficiency, herbivore productivity and habitat carrying capacity, and moose-predator interactions
Limited capabilities of existing systems

3. Desirable vs. Possible Priority list for the desirable version:
Flexible Design
2D Landscape implementation
Agent “Plant” implementation
Agent “Moose” implementation
Plant-Moose interaction implementation
Expansion of scope (space and number of agents)
Optimization (memory, run-time)
Agent “Predator” implementation
Moose-Predator interaction implementation
Complex Landscape Patterns
Artificial Intelligence Behavior Patterns for Agents
Main decision: little of everything
vs. thorough specifics

4. Implementation Decisions
Effort was geared toward more thorough implementation of specific components according to the initial priority list:
Flexible, reliable system architecture, capable of fully supporting all the functional specifications known at the time and allowing for future expansions
Emphasized Simulation Components:
Landscape model
Plants

5. Simulation – PMPSim.java
Timer
Landscape: LandscapeSegment[][]
Plants
PlantsHashTable: Plant, hashkey = plantID
PlantsArray: plantID
Moose
MooseHashTable: Moose, hashkey = mooseID
MooseArray: mooseID
Predators
PredatorsHashTable: Predator, hashkey = predatorID
PredatorsArray: predatorID
Other parameters
GrowthSeason, Precipitation, etc.

6. Simplified System Architecture
SimulationParametersMainFrame
SimpleLandscapeSpecificationsPanel
SimulationMainFrame
SimulationMenuBar
AdvancedLandscapeSpecificationsFrame
SimulationToolBar
LandscapeToolBar
IndividualSegmentDisplay
SimplePlantsSpecificationsPanel
SimpleMooseSpecificationsPanel
SimplePredatorsSpecificationsPanel
PresetPlantPropertiesFrame
CustomPlantPropertiesFrame

7. GUI Representation of the System

8. Landscape Model Main design decision: Characteristics: Partitioning
Dimensions
Elevation Contours
Bogs/Wetlands
Forest Habitat
Riparian Habitat
Plant species-specific patches
Custom View

9. Plants Preset vs. Custom Groups vs. Individual Characteristics:
Plant ID
Species Name
Coordinates
Elevation Range
Aspect Preference
Special Habitat Associations
Habitat Restrictions

10. Potential Extensions Existing system design allows for:
Intuitive implementation of any additional types of agents, such as
Moose
Predators
Potentially, supporting very high levels of complexity, necessary for incorporating extensive amounts of research data and, hence, giving the simulation the capabilities to represent a more realistic model
Future optimization in both memory usage and run-time via
Landscape partitioning
Threading

11. Conclusion
Developed a prototype of fundamental components for customizing and running plant-moose-predators simulations
Lessons Learned:
More about working with a real client
More about design
More about simulations