NCW - Nature's Predator-Prey Abstraction

Abstract

He Predator-Prey ecosystem of the African savannahs provides a real-world abstraction of network centric warfare (NCW). Prides of vultures scan the skies looking for dead or dying prey while packs of hyenas and lions fight it out on the ground to either track and kill their next meal or steal downed prey from their natural adversaries. Constantly observing and spying on each other, these incessant adversaries are always seeking a competitive advantage. When one of the circling vultures sights either downed prey or possible scraps from a ground-Based struggle, it signals others to descend. by doing so, they inadvertently share their intelligence with other predators on the ground. based on distance to the prey, number of other predators in the area, and ratio of adversaries to allies, the race to the kill-site is swift and the outcome means the difference between survival to fight again and starvation. Starting with the assumption that the Predator-Prey ecosystem of the African savannah would be a real-world abstraction of NCW, a study of the interactions between three representative species (lions, hyenas, and vultures) was initiated. Behavior, especially in regard to interactions with other species, pride or pack size, average ground or air speed, and territory size were investigated. during the investigation, it became clear that the interactions between the species could be clearly viewed as an analogy to a set of mobile combatants seeking to overthrow their adversaries; in this case the goal is food (i.e., survival) rather than social power, money, or property. a portion of this work analyzes the behavioral characteristics of each species much like war fighters dissect the capabilities of their adversaries. These species-Based parameters were used to analyze how different distributions of prey, in relation to predator territories, influence which predator species gets to the prey first in sufficient numbers to get the majority of the food. the analysis was performed using a simple Monte Carlo discrete event simulation model and considered the nominal, aggregated behavior of each pack or pride as a single unit, not the behavior of individual pack members. using these aggregated characteristics of speed and the ability to sense downed prey at a distance, a clear parallel could be drawn to the groups of armed forces in war zones relative to available surveillance and tracking systems. Albeit, the struggle in the African savannah is an on-going, zero-sum war game. © 2007 by Michael L. Gregg.

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Second Department

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-160560119-9

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 Curran Associates Inc., All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Dec 2007

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