Six requirements for the classification of simulation studies of environmental management that are implemented using agent technology are elaborated on in this paper. The requirements are: coupling social and environmental models, micro-level decision making, social interaction, intrinsic adaptation of decision making and behavior, population-level adaptation and multiple scale-level decision making.

Then, 11 simulation studies of environmental management that are implemented using agent technology are classified, according to three of the requirements, namely, coupling social and environmental models, social interaction, and intrinsic adaptation of decision making and behavior. The developed classification framework is context-sensitive. Specifically, it depends on the chosen example studies, and does not provide room for other types of studies. As the authors affirm, this is an initial study, and later versions may be much more elaborate.

The authors conclude by stating that the paper “has introduced and discussed the roots and terminology behind the complex concept that is agent-based simulation.” However, in section 3, the authors assert that “the approach taken in this paper is, therefore, to start from problem requirements, not terminology.” Further versions of the classification scheme may benefit from a clear definition of agency, and considerations of several types of features, as well as their implementations and the nature of the environmental problems. The paper is worth reading if you are interested in environmental simulation, and for its systematization of agent simulation.