Rossumøya is a small island in the middle of the vast ocean that belongs to the island nation of Pylandia. The ecosystem on Rossumøya is relatively undisturbed, but Pylandia’s Environmental Protection Agency wants to study the stability of the ecosystem. The long term goal is to preserve Rossumøya as a nature park for future generations.
The ecosystem on Rossumøya is characterized by several different landscape types, jungle, savannah, mountains and desert. The fauna includes only two species, one species of herbivores (plant eaters), and one of carnivores (predators). You shall investigate whether both species can survive in the long term. A detailed description of Rossumøya’s geography and fauna is given in section 2.
The most important characteristics are
- Herbivores depend on a good supply of fodder to survive and reproduce.
- Carnivores depend on the availability of prey. Carnivores are more mobile than herbivores.
- Jungle provides large amounts of fodder even under intense grazing.
- Savannah can be destroyed by overgrazing.
- Desert does not provide fodder for herbivores.
- Mountain is impassable for herbi- and carnivores.
- Ocean is impassable for both species.