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Trophic Cascade: Landscape of Fear

Reintroduce an apex predator into a 3D ecosystem and watch a trophic cascade unfold: herbivores are thinned by direct predation and — more powerfully — change their behavior, avoiding the vulnerable riverbank 'landscape of fear' so vegetation there can finally recover, bringing beavers and songbirds back.

Ecology & Conservation Biology3DModerate60 FPS

This simulator models a real ecological phenomenon: removing an apex predator doesn't just let its prey's population grow — it also removes the fear that used to keep that prey out of vulnerable habitat. Toggle the apex predator on and off and watch both effects (population thinning and behavioral avoidance) cascade down through the vegetation and the species that depend on it.

⚙ Under the hood

Reintroduce an apex predator into a 3D ecosystem and watch a trophic cascade unfold: herbivores are thinned by direct predation and, more powerfully, change their behavior — avoiding the vulnerable riverbank 'landscape of fear' so vegetation there can finally recover and dependent species like beavers and songbirds return.

trophic cascadeapex predatorlandscape of fearwolf reintroductionecosystempredator-prey behaviorriverbank vegetationkeystone species

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