The following images show different stages for the simulation of
Caulerpa taxifolia evolution in the north mediterranean sea. Caulerpa
taxifolia is a green tropical alga (leaves up to 60 cm of lenght) wich
was firstly discovered (one square meter) in the mediterranean sea at Monaco
in 1984.
Actually, the alga shows a spectacular proliferation and the area colonized
has reached more than 1500 ha (French-Italian coast). Some settlements
had been discovered recently from the croatian coast (Adriatic sea) to
the Baleares islands (Spain). This explosive development endangers the
endogenous ecosystems and we expect an irreversible alteration of the coastal
ecosystems both on endogenous species distribution and ecosystem functioning
point of view (trophic relationships).
Most photographs are provided by Prof. Alexandre Meinesz and geographical
information were built with MapGraphix GIS under the direction of Dr. Jean
de Vaugelas.
More information concerning this alga propagation can be found on the web
server of our partners of the
Marine Littoral Environment Lab University of Nice- Sophia Antipolis.
The Caulerpa
modelling & simulation program is actually supported by the European
Community Research Program "LIFE" (D.G.XI) Nr = 95/F/A31/EPT/782
Invading Caulerpa species in Mediterranean Conclusions & recommandations of the symposium organised by NATO Program for Environment & Plan d'Action pour la Méditerranée (18 - 20) March, 1998 |
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The simulation is implemented with GNU C++ on PC and Unix workstations. The technique used corresponds to a combination of stochastic discrete event simulation and Cellular Automata. The alga propagation is mainly done by :
The screen dumps below show an aerian view, spectral analysis of spatial simulation results and site simulation results obtains at different resolutions (Cap Martin Headland & Mediterranean Sea)
Simulations take into account many parameters such as substrates, bathymetry, currents...