Lutra Interactive AB has developed EcoWeb, an interactive ecological experience that lets visitors build, modify and observe food webs rather than simply read about biodiversity. The project is designed to make the indirect effects of ecosystem change visible: adding or removing a species can alter herbivores, plants and other organisms elsewhere in the network, sometimes in unexpected ways.
At the center of EcoWeb is the idea that biodiversity is not only a count of species but also the web of interactions among them. The developers say those connections, especially indirect effects, are difficult to convey through conventional exhibits, diagrams or lists of threatened species. EcoWeb turns them into a hands-on simulation.
Built on empirical food-web data
EcoWeb combines ecological science, dynamic simulation and playful interaction. Instead of simplified or fictional ecosystems, it uses empirical food-web data drawn from published ecological research, systematic literature reviews and species occurrence data. Its model incorporates both bottom-up and top-down effects, so changes can propagate through the network rather than affecting only directly connected species.
Visitors meet the complexity in stages. They start with simple three-species food chains and see what happens when species are added or removed. They then progress to larger food webs and to different types and strengths of ecological interactions. The most advanced networks contain more than 100 species and over 1,000 interactions. Users can select individual species to reveal their ecological connections, explore threatened species, and in the Swedish forest ecosystem move from recently cleared to old-growth forest to compare how biodiversity and the network itself change.
Four ecosystems, one framework
EcoWeb currently presents four contrasting ecosystems: the Serengeti savanna, the Swedish boreal forest, an agricultural landscape and Lake Bolmen, one of Sweden’s largest lakes. The same underlying concept applies across them while retaining locally relevant species, data and environmental challenges.
Designed with scientists and educators, the project has moved beyond prototype into real-world use. It has been deployed as a touchscreen experience at Swedish science centres including Universeum in Gothenburg, Curiosum in Umeå and Visualization Center C in Norrköping. It is also accessible through the web for WWF Sweden.
Observations from these installations indicate that visitors spend time exploring species and their connections. Use with school groups has generated discussion and reasoning about extinction, indirect effects and trophic cascades, according to the project. These observations describe engagement rather than prove learning outcomes, but they point to how interactive simulation can support public discussion of ecological change.
Framing biodiversity loss as a system
EcoWeb is positioned in the sustainability category because it addresses biodiversity loss, one of the defining sustainability challenges of the time. Protecting biodiversity requires more than knowing that species are disappearing; it also requires understanding why species matter and how ecosystems depend on relationships among organisms.
Rather than telling visitors that biodiversity is important, EcoWeb lets them experiment with ecosystems and see consequences unfold. In doing so, it aims to turn complex sustainability science into something tangible, memorable and engaging, creating a bridge between ecological research, public understanding and awareness of the consequences of human impact on nature.