EcoWeb

EcoWeb transforms ecological research into an interactive experience where visitors can explore, build and change ecosystems and see the consequences unfold. By adding or removing species, users discover how changes can cascade through a food web: removing a predator may affect herbivores and plants, while the loss of one species can have unexpected consequences for species elsewhere in the network.

The idea behind EcoWeb is simple: biodiversity is much more than the number of species in an ecosystem. It is also the complex web of interactions connecting them. Yet these connections – and particularly the indirect effects that arise when ecosystems change – are difficult to communicate through traditional exhibits, diagrams or lists of threatened species. EcoWeb makes these invisible processes visible, interactive and engaging.

What makes EcoWeb innovative is its combination of real ecological science, dynamic simulation and playful interaction. Rather than using simplified or fictional ecosystems, EcoWeb is built from empirical food-web data derived from published ecological research, systematic literature reviews and species occurrence data. Its ecological model incorporates both bottom-up and top-down effects, allowing changes to propagate through the network rather than affecting only directly connected species.

Visitors encounter this complexity progressively. They begin by constructing simple three-species food chains and exploring what happens when species are added or removed. They then move to larger food webs, different types and strengths of ecological interactions, and finally complete ecological networks containing more than 100 species and over 1,000 interactions. Visitors can select individual species and reveal their ecological connections, explore threatened species and, in the Swedish forest ecosystem, move from recently cleared to old-growth forest to see how both biodiversity and the network itself change.

EcoWeb currently brings four contrasting ecosystems to life: the Serengeti savanna, Swedish boreal forest, an agricultural landscape and Lake Bolmen, one of Sweden’s largest lakes. The same underlying concept can therefore be applied across ecosystems while retaining locally relevant species, data and environmental challenges.

Designed in collaboration with scientists and educators, EcoWeb has moved beyond prototype to real-world use. It has been deployed as a touchscreen experience at leading Swedish science centres including Universeum in Gothenburg, Curiosum in Umeå and Visualization Center C in Norrköping, as well as being accessible through the web for WWF Sweden. Observations from these installations show visitors spending time exploring species and their connections, while use with school groups has generated discussion and reasoning about extinction, indirect effects and trophic cascades.

EcoWeb fits the Sustainability category by addressing one of the defining sustainability challenges of our time: biodiversity loss. Protecting biodiversity requires more than knowing that species are disappearing; it requires understanding why those species matter and how ecosystems depend on the relationships between them.

Rather than simply telling visitors that biodiversity is important, EcoWeb lets them experience why it matters. By allowing people to experiment with ecosystems themselves, EcoWeb turns complex sustainability science into something tangible, memorable and engaging – creating a bridge between ecological research, public understanding and a greater awareness of the consequences of our impact on nature.