MASOOR as part of a zoning instrument
Recreational use of nature areas raises public awareness and support for nature conservation. In a densely populated areas this support is a crucial to preserve nature. Disturbance of wildlife is a major drawback of recreational pressure on nature areas. Zoning recreation in nature areas to less vulnerable parts can help to find the balance between nature conservation and recreation.
There is a need for modeling tools that assist in zoning design and quantify effects of zoning on nature. MASOOR is developed as a part of such zoning tool. MASOOR models recreational use of a network of paths in a nature area. MASOOR results give an indication of areas with high recreation pressure. These results can be used as an input to ecological models like LARCH to estimate effects on nature.
MASOOR input
A network of paths is given. These paths can have different types, like walking path or cycling path. The simulation starts at gates where the recreants enter and exit the area. Attraction points that influence the behavior of the visitors can be specified. Several types of visitors can be specified. For each type numbers of visitors are set.
Simulation
Visitors are modeled in MASOOR as 'agents'. Each recreant is autonomous and takes decisions at crossings. The decisions made are partly by preference and partly by chance. A visitor starts with a plan about the amount of time to spend and where to go: a random walk, a marked trail or directed towards an attraction point. At crossings several decisions can be made: go back, turn left or right, stay on the path, take a different kind of path, not the same path twice, heading back home or follow a marked trail. The decision is influenced by the amount of time left. If time is running out there will be a strong preference to take a path back to the entrance/exit point.
MASOOR output
The result of a MASOOR simulation gives the number of visitors per path.
