Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

Ecologically Sound Procedural Generation of Natural Environments

The integration of ecological modeling into interactive 3D visualization represents a significant advancement in procedural environment generation.

• The framework achieves real-time performance in standard WebGL browsers, maintaining frame rates exceeding 50 FPS while rendering high-density, ecologically accurate vegetation.
• The system utilizes a multi-level quadtree structure combined with geometry instancing and node-based L-systems to manage complex plant distributions and rendering efficiency.
• Procedural placement is governed by a combination of Poisson Disk Distribution and Wang tiling, with species classification determined by a modified fractal Brownian motion algorithm based on environmental constraints.