Employing Agent-Based Modeling to Investigate Wildlife Behavioral Responses and Ecosystem Functionality in Fragmented Environments

Abstract

The​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Congo Basin, a globally significant forest with immense biodiversity, is gradually losing its continuous habitat due to the cutting down of trees, in addition to forest clearance, illegal logging, farming, and road and bridge construction activities. Over the last several decades, the Congo Basin has had a staggering loss of forest cover, with a rough estimate of 10 million hectares of forest being cleared between the year 2000 and 2025. The fragmentation interferes with natural processes and poses substantial difficulties to animal populations. Therefore, it is important to know how animals adjust and behave in fragmented areas so as to be able to conserve this ecosystem.  This is research that makes use of Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) to investigate the behavioral changes of the key species in the Congo Basin, such as the western lowland gorilla, forest elephant, okapi, and chimpanzee, and to determine the effects that fragmentation has on the ecosystem's functionality. The present study will utilize an Agent-Based Approach (ABA) to simulate how habitat fragmentation will impact the daily routine, foraging behaviour, social interaction, reproductive success, The initial results reveal that fragmentation causes the movement range of forest elephants to be limited by 40%, group cohesion in gorillas reduced by 25%, and that breeding success in okapi has drastically gone down due to their being isolated.  Additionally, the conservation model explores the impact of such conservation measures as wildlife corridors and protected areas to mitigate the harmful effects of fragmentation. The outcome of this research will be instrumental in improving the understanding of the intricate relationship between the animals and fragmented habitats in the Congo Basin. This knowledge serves as the foundation for conservation policy, making and planning to protect the rich biodiversity of one of the most vital ecosystems on the planet while tackling the escalating problem of habitat ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌fragmentation.