Course
description:
Ecological
gaming will examine
ecology through the lens
of a computer simulation
game. The overarching goal
of this course is to
instill a foundation of
ecological concepts by
breaking down ecological
complexity into simple,
digestible pieces. We
start by building a simple
(virtual) environment (our
gaming platform) and
slowly add complexity by
adding virtual species to
the ecosystem and
observing their
population’s development
and behavior. As a class,
we will build
spatially-explicit abiotic
environments. These simple
environments will be used
for the foundation of an
ecosystem with the
environment subdivided
into habitat categories
(e.g., good habitat versus
poor habitat, or forests
versus deserts), which
will allow a discussion of
some of the essential
building blocks of life
and life strategies. After
our virtual environments
have been built, we will
examine single population
dynamics (resource needs,
fecundity strategies,
growth rates, lifespan,
phenology, reproduction
type, dispersal, movement
and behavior,
within-species competition
and density-dependence).
The course will continue
by looking at species
interactions (e.g.,
competition, mutualism,
predation, trophic levels,
trophic cascades, food
webs). Finally, ecosystem
level biocomplexity will
be examined by looking at
how ecosystem components
could influence evolution,
ecosystem stability and
chaos.
