A GIS based spatially explicit model of dispersal agent behavior

Abstract

Spatial simulation models of seed dispersal have been constructed at the landscape level under the assumption of ubiquitous or uniform dispersibility. The anisotropic nature of vegetation distribution caused by different dispersal agents such as wind, gravity, water and animals were ignored. We propose a prototype of a GIS-based spatially explicit model of dispersal agent behavior (SEMODAR) to simulate the seed dispersal process by considering the unique behavioral characteristics of each seed dispersal agent. As a result, the influence of dispersal agent behavior on the species coexistence in competitive communities with and without habitat destruction could be explored. The model consists of four module components: dispersal rules, species competition, species colonization, and habitat destruction. An experimental simulation was conducted using three hypothetical species with differing competitive and migration abilities in both intact and disturbed conditions for 250 years. The findings of this study support the theoretical expectation that inferior competitors can coexist with superior competitors given that the inferior competitors have efficient colonization ability. The simulation also reveals the important role of agent behavior in the seed dispersal process and the biased impact of environment fragmentation on superior competitors that are not superior dispersers. #

Animating tree colonization and growth

“…Other ecological research could also benefit from temporal data animation, for instance mapping and following the impacts of invasive species (cf Knüsel et al, 2015), or assessing the relative merits of seed dispersal agents (Qiu et al, 2008). Qui et al for example use static snapshots from the 250-year simulation using a GIS-based theoretical model to assess the relative importance of wind, gravity, water and animals.…”

USAR simulation system: presenting spatial strategies in agents' task allocation under uncertainties

“…A GIS prototype was created to simulate the distribution of seeds, which are modified by various factors. (Qiu et al, 2008) Agent-based systems have been used as simulation tools in various studies. Simulation of the operating system involves a simplified real environment, which is used to model a wide range of agents in complex systems.…”

A Short Review on Data Modelling for Vector Fields

“…In [57], the local characteristics of a vector field, such as the vector mean and dispersion, have been discussed and modeled. The spatial model of the vector field can be used for subsequent tasks, such as understanding the plant seed dispersion process [58] or predicting microscale land activities [59].…”