About the Toolbox

Ecosim is an open-source Python-based simulation toolkit designed to model the complex dynamics of animal ecosystems. Its goal is to provide a modular, visual, and educational environment where users can explore biodiversity, species interactions, and environmental influences in a virtual habitat.

At the core of Ecosim lies a simulation engine that orchestrates the movement, reproduction, death, and interaction of various organisms over a customizable grid-based terrain. Users can define species, their trophic relationships (such as predator-prey), and assign behavioral logic using configuration files. Each simulation step is visualized with clear grid-based plots that show organisms in their environment and allow tracking over time.

Food Web Overview

Food Web Diagram

A food web represents the complex network of feeding relationships within an ecosystem. In this simulation, the food web is defined using a structured JSON file (foodweb.json), where species are connected by who eats whom.

The example shown above includes the following relationships:

  • Producers: - Grass - Fruits and flowers - Seeds

  • Primary consumers (herbivores): - Deer eats grass - Chipmunk eats seeds - Grouse eats fruits and flowers - Insects eat grass

  • Secondary/Tertiary consumers (carnivores or omnivores): - Bear eats deer, chipmunk, grouse, and insects - Hawk eats chipmunk and grouse - Marmot eats insects - Grouse may also eat insects

  • Decomposers: - Fungi break down dead organisms such as deer and plants

These trophic interactions define energy transfer pathways and help simulate realistic predator-prey dynamics in the virtual environment.