ROBOT COWBOY: Ian Miller, Matt Rossbach REVIVING TUNDRA GRASSLAND Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, THROUGH ROBOTIC HERDING Louisiana State University 1 Algorithmic Ecology System Diagram ABSTRACT The primary issue in northeastern Siberia is the continuing recession of permafrost due to the degraded condition of the grassland ecology, which will amplify global warming. The release of ancient gas stored in the permafrost will accelerate the greenhouse effect and catastrophically affect the health of the planet. The restoration of Pleistocene-like conditions can actively combat this potential danger through gas sequestration in the roots of grasses and a stable layer of per- mafrost. Once reintroduced to the region, large herd animals will play an integral role in maintain- ing their own ecosystem. The use of digital sensing and robotics surpasses human capability to create a relationship between these large herding herbivores and the grassland tundra landscape in order to help stabilize and reestablish the Siberian permafrost. Robotic herding rovers tirelessly traverse the vast territory of Siberia equipped with instruments and satellite communication to continuously read and adjust to ground conditions, fostering an emergent ecology. These coop- erative technologies aid in the reconstruction of a grassland ecosystem with the ability to prevent permafrost from thawing and potentially mitigate negative consequences of global warming. 147 THE GLOBAL STAKES will: achieve the high transpiration rate of the grasses; increase the albedo to reflect solar radiation; increase drying winds across The proposal investigates the work of Russian geophysicist the region; and expand the depth of the permafrost. All of which Sergey Zimov at Pleistocene Park in Cherskii, the Republic of result in a cumulative effort of greenhouse gas sequestration Sakha—the region commonly known as Siberia. Zimov is actively through the permafrost and in the roots of grasses (Zimov 1995). attempting to recreate the ancient tundra grassland of northeast- ern Siberia by introducing large herd mammals to recalibrate the HERDING IN A STEPPE LANDSCAPE region to its condition during the Pleistocene epoch. Pleistocene The disappearance of herbivore herds at the end of the animals performed an integral role in maintaining their own eco- Pleistocene era effectively ended the nourishment loop, causing system. The climate shift of northeastern Siberia has long been the extinction of the grasslands. The ecosystem was a suc- associated with a global change from the Pleistocene to Holocene cessful cycle of nutrient replenishment of both flora and fauna. epoch, but further study may indicate an early impact of human Mammoths, wooly rhinoceroses, bison, horses, reindeer, musk activity on ecological dynamics. The Holocene shift is not a unique oxen, elk, moose, saiga and yaks grazed grasslands with cave li- event yet similar interglacial shifts did not cause catastrophic land- ons and wolves—their predatory counterparts. Grasses use water scape reconstructions. Increasingly efficient hunting techniques resources rapidly and expand into a sustained landscape, which and the advent of agriculture coincide with the decimation of the herbivores then eat and trample, returning nutrients to the soil via grazing animal population that maintained the tundra-taiga land- manure. The soils of northern Siberia are too cold to decompose scape (Andreev et al. 2002, 138). plant litter independently and the existence of herbivores to de- The primary issue in northeastern Siberia is the recession of per- compose organic matter in their stomachs allowed the ecosystem mafrost due to the degraded condition of the grassland ecology, to exist with Pleistocene conditions (Zimov 2005). which will further amplify global warming. Much in the same way that barbed wire fencing facilitated the The global stakes are particularly high for the region in terms settlement of the American west and allowed large tracts of land of climate change. Ancient frozen temperatures resulted in the otherwise unsuitable for agriculture to be grazed by livestock, sequestration of massive amounts of greenhouse gas in the for- emergent technologies may be deployed in Siberia to improve mer grassland ecosystem. The thawing of the permafrost under productivity. Barbed wire simply allocated land in order to maintain continuing greenhouse gas-induced warming will risk the release productive livestock populations; what we glean from the lessons of five hundred gigatons of stored carbon, representing 2.5 times of barbed wire is that an implied boundary can be as effective in the combined amount produced by rainforests worldwide. The herding as in larger fixed structures. Still, this approach will not release of this gas will accelerate the greenhouse effect with a help to direct herd animals to execute their role in the grassland catastrophic impact on the health of the planet (Andreev et al. 2002). ecosystem. Instead, a roving boundary system that directs herds through the tundra is necessary. Reindeer, moose, Yakutian A number of Pleistocene-like conditions can actively combat this horses, and musk oxen will be equipped with geo-location tags catastrophic danger. The deep root system of grasses stabilizes to identify herd type and vegetation preference. Existing radio-fre- the soil and stores atmospheric carbon. The ability of the ecosys- quency identification (RFID) technologies used in traditional agri- tem to reflect solar radiation is high, reducing the absorption of culture, as developed by the Dutch company Sparked, to identify radiation-warming sunlight. The herbivore herds trample the win- and monitor the behavior, movement and health of livestock, can ter snow exposing the ground to colder temperatures and further be adapted for use with the tundra-taiga herds. These implanted preventing the melting of the permafrost. A reconstructed grass- RFID chips have the ability to take body temperature, detect sick- land ecosystem, such as Pleistocene Park in northeastern Siberia, ness and calving. In Siberia, the system can monitor the growth of has the ability to prevent permafrost from thawing and potentially the herd over time and implement herd management decisions. mitigate negative consequences of global warming (Zimov 2005). To develop the ecosystem, individual herds will be dispatched TAIGA BIOME to sites based on herd size and maintenance capability. Unlike human interaction in the form of cowboys, this roving boundary Grassland ecosystems exist as the first evolutionary step of ecolo- is constantly in motion, tirelessly completing tasks and assessing gies with the highest rates of biogeochemical cycling. Transpiration the efficacy of the herd in restoring Pleistocene grasslands. rates are high in productive plants that existed in the pasture land- scape of northeastern Siberia during the Pleistocene epoch. SENSING AN EMERGENT ECOLOGY Dry conditions resulted from grasses with high transpiration, while Using digital sensing and robotics to nurture the relationship the plants stored nutrients to increase productivity. To address between herding herbivores and the grassland tundra land- climate change concerns, the desired effects of this landscape scape, we anticipate that Siberian permafrost can stabilize and INTERACTIVE ACADIA 2013 ADAPTIVE ARCHITECTURE 148 eventually proliferate. Such an expansion will in turn sequester with narrow parameters in which grassland accretion can occur, exponentially more greenhouse gas and limit the contribution of human herders do not have the equipment or endurance to be the territory to climate change. Under the premise that pasture effective. Robotic rovers are tireless and carry instruments to con- landscapes met destruction due to the decimation of herbivore tinuously read and adjust to ground conditions; the expectation populations by human activity, the return of herbivore commu- for similar effectiveness of a human on horseback is unrealistic. nities may reasonably reconstitute a former and more robust During periods of rapid herd movement, the rovers receive a pri- ecology. The reintroduction of herbivores reestablishes the mary instruction to contain the edges of the herd and recover wan- collective behavior that then works in concert with grasslands to derers. With each member of the herd geographically identified, create and maintain the tundra ecosystem. rovers can easily detect movements like scattering and defecting based on the specific herd formation characteristics of any species. The proposed strategy involves two operational layers consisting of sensing and herding. The matrix of data transmits to DRAGO, The reintroduction of herbivore herds will actively create and the Data Requisition and Guidance Operant, a computer script support the very grassland ecosystem in which they live. Feeding choreographing the herding/sampling robots according to gath- satellite and ground data to robotic herders creates a self- ered information. DRAGO collects data via satellite and surface sufficient hybrid ecology that is more effective than a human sensing by the same robots driving the herbivore herd through operation. Data communication and sensing foster cooperation the Siberian tundra. Satellite measurements of the landscape use between herding animals and the emergent grassland ecology to LIDAR technology to calculate vegetation, permafrost coverage recalibrate the landscape to normalized conditions. Restoring the and soil composition—indicators of the tundra-taiga