Marsh Madness: Using Video Games and a Case Study to Explore Food Webs and Ecosystem Services in Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve

As the complexity and interconnectedness of our world increases, we are continually expected to be capable of complex, non-linear thinking in order to successfully tackle and solve the challenges we face in the 21st century. Tackling these challenges requires “systems thinking,” in which problem solving must consider interconnected components within a whole to solve complex problems. However, high school and undergraduate training often focus on linear cause-and-effect relationships, failing to help students develop a systems approach to problem solving. Food web ecology lends itself well to developing systems thinking skills, as species depend on one another for resources, form complex systems, and provide benefits to society, known as ecosystem services. We developed a case study based on Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve that incorporates both active- and game-based learning to teach students about socio-ecological systems and food web ecology and to use systems thinking. This case study was designed for two 75-minute class periods and uses a freely available web-based game developed by the authors. The case introduces food web ecology and ecosystems services, and as such, it is helpful if students have basic knowledge of food webs prior to the case. After implementing this case study in an undergraduate introductory ecology course, we found that students often (i) improved their content knowledge regarding food webs and ecosystem services, (ii) recognized the importance of species interactions and direct/indirect threats for ecosystem services, and (iii) considered multiple types of information to make decisions. Primary Image: Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Salt marsh in front of mountains in Santa Barbara, California, overlaid with food web data from the Food Web Game. Photo by Aislyn Keyes. Data for food web game from R. F. Hechinger, K. D. Lafferty, J. P. McLaughlin, B. L. Fredensborg, T. C. Huspeni, J. Lorda, P. K. Sandhu, J. C. Shaw, M. E. Torchin, K. L. Whitney, and A. M. Kuris, Ecology 92:791, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1890/10-1383.1.