WildBalance

WildBalance

Inspiration

In 1926, fear of wolves harming livestock and people led to ranchers and farmers in Yellowstone, Wyoming to eradicate the wolf population. As a result, the elk population rapidly increased. The overpopulation caused overgrazing, which prevented new growth and damaged the ecosystem, negatively affecting other animals that relied on a regenerating forest. This real-world example directly inspired our simulation.

What it does

It is an interactive, agent-based predator–prey simulation designed as a learning tool. It models how predators, prey, and resources interact within an ecosystem and shows how removing one element can cause imbalance. Users can run the simulation, adjust parameters, and observe how population dynamics change over time.

How we built it

We built it using an agent-based approach where predators, prey, and grass are modeled as individual agents with energy levels and behaviors. Prey consume grass to gain energy, predators consume prey, and all agents lose energy over time. Reproduction occurs once an energy threshold is reached. We also implemented a user interface with play, pause, reset controls, adjustable sliders, and a real-time graph to visualize population changes.

***PS: The BaseFrame.java was made by Ron Mckenzie in 2009 but revised in December 2022.

Challenges we ran into

We experienced challenges working together on code. Especially setting everyone up on github repository. Since we had just made the team minutes before the hackathon began.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of creating a successful simulation that allows changes and graphic elements to allow one to learn about how the ecosystem requires balance.