A Forestry Management Game as a Learning Support System for

Increased Understanding of Vegetation Succession

Effective Environmental Education Towards a Sustainable Society

Shuya Kawaguchi

, Hiroshi Mizoguchi

Ryohei Egusa

2,3

, Yoshiaki Takeda

, Etsuji Yamaguchi

Shigenori Inagaki

, Fusako Kusunoki

, Hideo Funaoi

and Masanori Sugimoto

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda-shi, Chida-ken, Japan

Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan

Department of Information Design, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan

Faculty of Education, Soka University, Tokyo, Japan

Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan

Keywords: Environmental Problems, Simulation, Virtual World, Score, Clear-Cut Logging, Evergreen Tree Logging,

Tree Size, Children, Problem-solving Skills.

Abstract: At present, there are many environmental problems, and environmental education is necessary to realize a

sustainable society. The most important element of education is practical application of what has been learned,

as this will deepen our understanding of the topic. As a part of environmental education, field work is

conducted to encourage children to learn vegetation succession. However, because vegetation successions

occur over an extended period of time, it is difficult for children to observe and participate throughout an

entire vegetation succession cycle even if they do field work. Thus, as a step toward effective environmental

education for a sustainable society, we developed a learning support system for children to better understand

vegetation successions. This learning support system enables simulated forest management over a period of

hundreds of years, providing users the opportunity to observe and learn which factors encourage and hinder

plant growth in forests. The system simulates a period of approximately 300 years, and regularly scores the

skills of the user according to the state of the forest. The changing score encourages the user to optimize forest

management. As a first step of system evaluation, college students were asked to participate as users.

Consequently, the participants suggested that this system can enhance understanding of, and problem-solving

skills regarding, vegetation successions.

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years, global environmental problems have

become increasingly more severe. Under these

circumstances, it is important to realize a sustainable

society. Thus, it is necessary to study the history of

the natural environment and its patterns of change as

the foundation of mankind from experience.

However, one of the difficulties of environmental

education is that it is not easy for learners to apply

knowledge learned via teachers and textbooks to the

real world. For example, it can be explained in

SATOYAMA, which is a virtual ecosystem that is

drawing attention as a powerful educational tool to

promote environmental education. The complicated

mechanism of vegetation succession and the actual

state of succession in SATOYAMA have not been

experienced learning outside though learning by

textbooks and images is done.

Figure 1: Vegetation succession.

322

Kawaguchi, S., Mizoguchi, H., Egusa, R., Takeda, Y., Yamaguchi, E., Inagaki, S., Kusunoki, F., Funaoi, H. and Sugimoto, M.

A Forestry Management Game as a Learning Support System for Increased Understanding of Vegetation Succession.

DOI: 10.5220/0006767303220327

In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2018), pages 322-327

ISBN: 978-989-758-291-2

 2019 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reser ved

Figure 2: Screenshot of game.

Moreover, even if practical experiential learning

is carried out, an actual vegetation succession occurs

over a period of several decades to hundreds of years;

thus, via SATOYAMA, it remains difficult to obtain

a realistic experience of a vegetation succession cycle.

Figure 1 illustrates the basic concept of vegetation

succession. In order to overcome these problems,

development of a learning support system is required

to obtain a deeper understanding of vegetation

succession that is not influenced by the relatively

extended cycle duration.

Thus, a vegetation succession SUGOROKU game

based on SATOYAMA preservation has been

developed to familiarize users with current

environmental problems. In this game, the change in

dominance of indicator plants in response to

environmental disturbance factors (logging,

landslides, precipitation, etc.) was expressed in a

SUGOROKU format. Additionally, we have used

animation to visualize changes throughout a

vegetation succession cycle of SATOYAMA

(Deguchi, et al., 2010, Deguchi, et al., 2012).

Consequently, we were able to demonstrate that the

developed game contributes to increased motivation

to learn, enhances understanding of the complexities

of vegetation succession, and fosters problem-solving

skills related to vegetation succession (Adachi, et al.,

2013, Nakayama, et al., 2014, Yoshida, et al., 2015).

However, it should be noted that the game developed

in this study has focused on the specific area of

"Rokko Mountain." In addition, the use of a large-

scale ultrasonic sensor enables the user to immerse

themselves in the virtual forest and travel along a

predetermined path as an indicator plant.

Furthermore, a wide variety of plants corresponding

to major vegetation in various locations throughout

Japan, utilization of a mobile platform to enable

portability, and infrared sensor-based immersion

were implemented in this study to promote better

understanding of SATOYAMA vegetation

succession and enhanced problem-solving skills

related to forest management. In addition, we aimed

to diversify the simulation contents as according to

the attributes of each user, and devised a plan to

develop new games in which each student could

participate.

Therefore, a SATOYAMA management-based

game, which can be customized to address the

environmental problems to which each user is

familiar, was developed (Kawaguchi, et al., 2017).

The vegetation succession occurring in SATOYAMA

changes in response to human intervention, such as

afforestation, deforestation, pesticide use, and deer

relocation, in addition to the influence of animal

feeding habits and competition between plants. After

studying materials that would enable visualization of

these changes, last year, we designed a SATOYAMA

management game and carried out trial version

development and a preliminary evaluation experiment

with 40 elementary school students. Based on the

results of the evaluation analysis of the demonstration

experiment, the following problems related to

content, game, and system were observed:

A Forestry Management Game as a Learning Support System for Increased Understanding of Vegetation Succession

323

 There was insufficient time for the user to

observe a change in vegetation succession

during game play and consider the

corresponding cause.

 It was difficult for the user to observe the

ideal conditions of vegetation in

SATOYAMA.

 Management methods were insufficient to

cope with various vegetation conditions.

 It was a system that could not sufficiently

create a sense of immersion in a virtual

world.

Therefore, to build upon the previous research, the

following goals were chosen for the current research:

 The user will be able to observe a change in

vegetation succession during game play and

understand the corresponding cause.

 The user will be able to observe the effects

of a forest management decision on

SATOYAMA and compare the current state

to the ideal state at any time.

 Develop an improved management method

for more realistic SATOYAMA

management.

 Increase the number of species at the

succession stage corresponding to major

vegetation found throughout Japan, as this

will facilitate a sense of immersion.

Subsequent sections of this paper describe the

current form of the game and the preliminary

experiments performed by university students, as this

experiment will later be conducted by primary school

students.

2 CURRENT GAME

IMPLEMENTATION

2.1 Game Purpose

The game introduced in this chapter is titled the

SATOYAMA Management Game. SATOYAMA is a

mountain that humans manage and use, and is located

between a town where humans live and surrounding

nature. It is regarded as a forest necessary for

agriculture such as firewood charcoal production,

compost and wood ash production, and timber

production. In this game, users can simulate

SATOYAMA environmental management. Figure 2

shows the game screen, which also presents the

following management method events:

 Clear-Cut Logging

 Evergreen Tree Cutting

 Afforestation

 Pest Control

 Deer Removal

 Do Nothing

The user selects one of the above actions to initiate

over a certain period of time; consequently, the

vegetation in SATOYAMA changes according to the

selected action. Of these management methods, there

are two types of deforestation: clear-cut logging and

evergreen tree logging. The game begins with

SATOYAMA in a poor state in which many late-stage

species are vegetated; the initial and ideal states are

presented in Figure 3. The user is given 20

opportunities to implement one of the six

management methods and achieve the ideal state of

SATOYAMA in which many middle-stage species

are vegetated. As was previously mentioned, the

current state of SATOYAMA is consistently

compared to the ideal state to provide the user with a

score. This score is displayed on the game screen such

that the user can check it as desired. This facilitates

understanding of the complex mechanism behind

vegetation succession.

The following ten species in the three successional

stages (Figure 4) are implemented in this game:

 Early-stage species: Rubus microphyllus,

Mallotus japonicas

 Middle-stage species: Pinus densiflora,

Quercus serrata, Rhododendron

reticulatum, Vaccinium oldhamii, Abelia

spathulata

 Late-stage species: Castanopsis spp.,

Quercus glauca, Eurya japonica

Figure 3: Initial and ideal states of SATOYAMA.

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324

Figure 4: Types of plants.

Table 1: Plant-event relationship matrix.

Plants

Events

Clear-Cut

Logging

→0

Evergreen Tree

Logging

→0

Afforestation

Pest Control

Deer Removal

Do Nothing

-3

-2

These plants have different growth rates and

terminal sizes. The early-stage species of Rubus

microphyllus is a intolerant shrub and Mallotus

japonicas is a intolerant middle tree, whereas middle-

stage species Pinus densiflora and Quercus serrata

are a intolerant tall trees. Contrastively, middle-stage

species Rhododendron reticulatum, Vaccinium

oldhamii and Abelia spathulata are intolerant shrubs

Late-stage species Castanopsis spp and Quercus

glauca are tolerant tall trees and late-stage species

Eurya japonica is a tolerant shrub.

As was previously mentioned, human

intervention, animal feeding habits, and competition

among plants cause the numbers of these plants to

fluctuate. In SATOYAMA, this human intervention

refers to the six management methods implemented in

the game. Alternatively, the vegetation in this virtual

ecosystem is influenced by the plants eaten by pine

longicorn and deer. Furthermore, when two or more

plants grow in the same place, competition between

plants exists. For example, when tall trees and shrubs

are planted in the same high-density forest area, the

tall trees can receive the sunlight needed to grow, but

also prevent sunlight from reaching the shrubs.

Consequently, the number of shrubs in the area will

decrease. As many late-stage species are present in

the initial state of SATOYAMA, if humans do not

manage the ecosystem, the number of taller trees will

increase, thereby leading to suppression of shorter

shrubs growth and their eventual extinction.

2.2 System Configuration

The entire system comprises a screen, a short focus

projector, a personal computer (PC), and a mouse.

When the user selects an event on the screen by using

the mouse, the corresponding change is applied to the

virtual ecosystem, which also permits the user to

change the number of each plant as desired. These

operations and controls were implemented using a C#

program developed via Visual Studio 2013.

The plant-event relationship matrix is shown in

Table 1. It should be noted that the relative

relationships between each plant reflect the state of

vegetation succession. When learners select clear-cut

logging, all plants are cut down. However, since the

tall trees are gone, only the early-growing early-stage

species will become vegetated. Additionally, if

evergreen tree logging is chosen, the number of late-

stage species will decrease, whereas early-stage

species and middle-stage species will increase.

Alternatively, choosing afforestation will increase the

number of middle-stage species, thereby causing the

number of early-stage species to decrease. As an

example, when the number of P. densiflora increases

to a minimum of six, pine longicorn appear.

Conversely, when the number of R. microphyllus

increases to at least three, deer appear. Although the

occurrence is randomly determined, the effects on

plants by two animals are dependent on the

characteristics of the plants. Middle-stage species

A Forestry Management Game as a Learning Support System for Increased Understanding of Vegetation Succession

325

shrubs, Rhododendron reticulatum, Vaccinium

oldhamii, Abelia spathulata are vegetated when the

numbers of Pinus densiflora and Quercus serrata in

the middle tuber exceed 50%, and disappear when the

numbers are 50% or less.

3 EXPERIMENT

3.1 Method

Students from Tokyo University of Science in Chiba

prefecture in Japan participated in the experiment,

which was carried out from November 12th to 15th,

2017. The participants were eight fourth-year

undergraduates, four first-year master’s degree

students, and three second-year master’s degree

students. Also, always on the time. Each participant

was asked to consider a management strategy before

the commencement of each game, and to carefully

observe the SATOYAMA environment while

playing. Figure 5 presents a photograph of the

experimental environment.

3.2 Results

We evaluated the final score of each participant, and

averaged their scores for each of three trial games. In

order to investigate whether a significant difference

exists between the average scores of each trial game,

the average scores were analyzed via the multiple-

comparison Tukey method.

Table 2 presents the average and dispersion of

scores, and Table 3 presents the results of the Tukey

method. At a confidence level of 5% and 1%, no

significant difference was observed between the

second and third average scores. However, the

differences between the first and second and first and

third trial averages were found to be significant at

confidence levels of 5% and 1%.

Figure 5: Experimental environment.

4 CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we aimed to promote deeper

understanding of vegetation succession and improved

problem-solving skills via immersion in a virtual

ecosystem that allowed the user to visualize the

effects of various significantly influential factors. The

users were tasked to manage SATOYAMA such that

the ideal environment could be realized.

In the experiment conducted to evaluate this

game, the difference between the first and second and

first and third trial average scores of 15 participants

was found to be significant. These results indicate that

participants were able to develop a deeper

understanding of vegetation succession and improved

problem-solving skills by playing this game, as the

increasing scores indicate increasingly effective

management strategies.

By playing the game, users can learn about

vegetation successions via implementation of a

management method that is more realistic than

previously available SATOYAMA management

methods. Furthermore, this game allows the user to

visualize and better understand the consequences of

human intervention, in addition to how animal

population and plant competition affect the state of

vegetation succession.

Table 2: Trial average and dispersion scores.

First

Second

Third

Average

40.8

66.7

73.7

Dispersion

380

92.6

11.0

Table 3: Tukey results.

First-

second

Second-

third

First-third

Calculation result

7.91

2.12

10.0

α=0.05 (3.67 or more)

〇

α=0.01 (4.84 or more)

〇

However, the effectiveness of this game can be

increased by incorporating video analysis of the

participants playing the game, as this would facilitate

the study of vegetation successions and provide an

additional means to qualitatively assess the

effectiveness of the game as a tool to learn forest

management support. In addition, the game was

preliminarily evaluated via undergraduate and

graduate students to facilitate optimization prior to

presenting the game to elementary school students.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant

numbers JP26282061, JP26560129, JP15H02936,

JP16H03059, and JP16H01814.

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