HomeEcology & Conservation BiologySpecies Reintroduction: Founder Effect & Establishment Simulator

Species Reintroduction: Founder Effect & Establishment Simulator

Interactive 3D reintroduction lab: release a founder population into a habitat, compare a single hard release against a staged soft release, and watch population growth, genetic diversity and establishment risk unfold together.

Ecology & Conservation Biology3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version
ecology-topic-63 ↗ Open standalone

When conservationists reintroduce a locally extinct species, the choice between releasing all founders at once or staggering them across several years shapes both how likely the population is to establish and how much of its genetic diversity survives the bottleneck. This simulator releases a founder population into a 3D habitat and tracks it forward in real time through a logistic-with-Allee-effect growth model, with demographic noise and disturbance events layered on top. Switch between a single hard release and a staged soft release to see the same founders produce different establishment odds and different heterozygosity curves, while the live population itself is rendered as individuals that mill about the habitat and shift from green toward red as genetic diversity erodes.

⚙ Under the hood

Release a founder population into a 3D habitat and compare a single hard release against a staged soft release, watching logistic growth with an Allee effect, genetic diversity loss and establishment risk unfold together in real time.

ecologyconservation-biologyreintroductionpopulation-dynamicsgeneticswildlife

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install

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