Azteca chess: Gamifying a complex ecological process of autonomous pest control in shade coffee

⿢Cascading trait mediated interactions (CTMI) can be critical for shade-coffee pest control.⿢Learning CTMI dynamically can help social actors grasp their complexity and importance.⿢Fascinating arthropod behaviors implied in CTMI need to be appropriately simulated.⿢Azteca Chess gamifies such behavior...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 2016-09, Vol.232, p.190-198
Main Authors: García-Barrios, Luis, Perfecto, Ivette, Vandermeer, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthropoda
Autonomous pest control
Azteca
Ecological complexity game
Educational board-game
Formicidae
Hymenoptera
Shade cofee
Trait mediated interactions
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Summary:⿢Cascading trait mediated interactions (CTMI) can be critical for shade-coffee pest control.⿢Learning CTMI dynamically can help social actors grasp their complexity and importance.⿢Fascinating arthropod behaviors implied in CTMI need to be appropriately simulated.⿢Azteca Chess gamifies such behaviors, CTMI dynamics and pest control consequences.⿢Azteca Chess is proved statistically to enhance understanding and application of autonomous pest control based on CTMI. Science-based board games can help people grasp the ecological complexity of autonomous pest control (APC) in the shade-coffee agroecosystem. Azteca Chess is a board-game that captures in a stylized way the fascinating natural history and the dynamics of a complex network of direct, indirect and cascading trait-mediated interactions among five species of arthropods dwelling in shade coffee bushes (a coffee-scale, an ant, an adult and larval lady beetle, a parasitoid wasp and a parasitoid fly). In exchange for honey-dew, the Azteca ant protects scale-insects that help control the devastating coffee-rust disease. The ant repels the adult ladybeetle but inadvertently protects its larvae, which devour scales to local extinction. The head-hunting fly paralyzes Azteca and opens a window of opportunity for the adult beetle to oviposit under scales, but also for a parasitoid wasp to kill the beetle larvae. Interactions can cascade or not towards APC. Experimental test-driving shows Azteca Chess meets good modeling and game-design standards and is proved statistically to enhance understanding and application of relevant complex ecological processes.
ISSN:0167-8809
1873-2305
DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2016.08.014