A Model of Ecological Dynamics

Users will be able to propose landscape design--planting, topography, waterway configurations, benches, ballfields, bridges, and so forth--in a three dimensional digial medium. They will be able to choose three-dimensional models of plants from a user-friendly library of species and place them within the Fens' digital landscape. A computer program will analyze users' choices according to a series of geographic information system (GIS) layers that characterize the environmental conditions of the Fens landscape--land use and maintenance patterns, soil physical properties, solar radiation, vapor pressure deficit, precipitation data, slope, and flooding.

The results will be displayed through a three-dimensional digital computer animation of vegetation growth from its planting to its maturity. The model will be a pilot and can be applied to numerous cities with similar environments.

The animation demonstrates how various planting scenarios can be tested quickly--for biological appropriateness and probability of success and for aesthetic appropriateness.