Residential irrigation accounts for 40 to 70 percent of household water use in semi-arid and arid regions in the U.S. (Hilaire et al. 2008), which consumes valuable resources. However, landscaping can also produce benefits: trees can reduce the heat index around the home, which decreases air conditioning use and saves energy (Bernatzky 1982; Shashua-Bar, Pearlmutter, and Erell 2009). The focus of my research is an agent-based system for optimizing spatial arrangements of plants on a landscape to maximize their growth and minimize their water use. The optimization criteria include a natural phenomenon known as facilitation (Callaway 1995), which is observed in water-scarce environments when larger shrubs serve as benefactors to smaller annuals by generating conditions that protect them from harsh afternoon sun (Holzapfel et al. 2006). These shrubs, known as nurse plants, enable the annuals to survive on less water than they need in the full sun (Whiting, Roll, and Vickerman 2007).
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机译：在美国半干旱和干旱地区，住宅灌溉占家庭用水的40％至70％（Hilaire et al.2008），这消耗了宝贵的资源。但是，美化环境也可以带来好处：树木可以降低房屋周围的热量指数，从而减少空调的使用并节省能源（Bernatzky 1982; Shashua-Bar，Pearlutter和Erell 2009）。我的研究重点是基于代理的系统，用于优化景观中植物的空间布置，以最大化植物的生长并减少其用水。最优化标准包括一种称为促进作用的自然现象（Callaway 1995），这种现象在缺水环境中会观察到，较大的灌木通过产生保护它们免受恶劣的午后阳光照射的条件而成为较小年生的受益者（Holzapfel et al。2006）。这些灌木被称为护士植物，使一年生植物能够在比充足的阳光下少的水分下生存（Whiting，Roll和Vickerman 2007）。
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