Agent-based modeling software for natural and rural ecosystems

Abstract

Agent-based modeling in biology allows, firstly, to simulate a multi-component environment with a number of entities (plants, microbes, fungi, insects, birds, mammals etc.) and, secondly, to perform numerical experiments for different research purposes. The article presents modeling software for natural and rural ecosystems based on the food chain concept. This software encompasses C++ core and Jupyter/Python data analysis environment; it supports both an interactive and a batch run modes; it allows exporting data for further processing and visualizes the data analysis results. Agent features and motion strategies can be defined with the program interface. The software allows modeling ecosystem dynamics with respect to inter- and cross-species relations through the simulation of agent analytical models in ecosystem world. We applied a three-species test model "plant-herbivore-carnivore" (PHC model) to perform software code validation. As a testing scenario, foraging impact to the overall PHC model balance was evaluated during the series of software try-outs.