SimReef: an agent-based model to address coastal management issues in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Authors

Pascal Perez, University of WollongongFollow
A Dray, Australian National University
Deborah Cleland, Australian National UniversityFollow
Jesus Ernesto Arias-Gonzalez, Laboratorio de Ecología de Ecosistemas de Arrecifes Coralinos

RIS ID

36915

Publication Details

Perez, P., Dray, A., Cleland, D. & Arias-Gonzalez, J. (2009). SimReef: an agent-based model to address coastal management issues in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. In R. S. Anderssen, R. D. Braddock & L. TH. Newham (Eds.), 18th World IMACS Congress and MODSIM09 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 72-79). Australia: IMACS.

Abstract

The northernmost part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (MBR) runs along the eastern Yucatan peninsula (Mexico). Over two decades, sprawling coastal tourism development and over-exploitation of marine resources have considerably reduced fringing reef’s ecological functions. SimReef is an interactive model designed to better understand the interactions between regional and local drivers strongly influencing the health of coral reefs. SimReef’s development follows a collective design approach and an inductive process whereby dynamics are represented by data-driven relationships. Experts and stakeholders participate to the designing phase in order to help calibrating the model and to support a consensual validation of the results.