EFMSim allows users to create and characterize ecological communities that are simulated in a data-defined virtual environment where they interact with that environment, themselves, and each other. It is a detailed simulation software. It is inherently spatial. It is primarily used to simulate population dynamics though its generic nature allows for inclusion of many ecological dynamics, including biogeochemical interactions.
The normal progression of tasks in EFMSim modeling is spatial setup, informatics, ecology, and application. Spatial setup is about setting up a model spatially - defining a study area, creating model layouts, and identifying regions of interest. Informatics is about data – importing diverse data sets and storing imported values in an underlying model database such that spatial-temporal data are available as needed during simulations. Ecology is about organizing scientific knowledge into a modeling framework – creating and characterizing communities to simulate and defining the rules that govern their behaviors and interactions with other communities. Application is about simulations – using the spatial setup, informatics, and ecology to run the model and then interpreting results via animations and other outputs.
EFMSim helps with common limitations in ecological modeling. It is capable of applying science, data, and computer resources at spatial and temporal scales relevant for resource planning and management. It allows for use of diverse types of data, which leverages the built capabilities of other technologies including climate, river hydraulics, and water quality models. Its generic nature allows for simulation of diverse ecological dynamics. Its simulations are spatially and temporally continuous. It allows modelers to test the effects of changes in land use, land management, water management, water quality, climate, and any other spatial and temporal variable of interest. And it is a software platform that is constructed to evolve, accommodating new types of data, logic, and modeling strategies.
EFMSim strengths include, it is: 1) timely - GIS resources and computing power have grown and are currently underutilized by many ecological modeling applications, 2) focused on ecological resources – knowledge about human effects on natural systems is increasing, thereby better informing and better motivating consideration of ecological dynamics in resource management, and 3) flexible in scale and purpose – a wide array of applications is supported by simply enabling import of whichever spatial datasets are important to the user and letting the user instruct what to simulate.