CARMA 4.0 (Case-based Range Management Advisor)
 

About CARMA 4.0

Summary of CARMA's Internal Workings

CARMA License

Acknowledgments

Contact Information

Installation Instructions and Download CARMA 4.0

About CARMA 4.0

CARMA: Case-based Range Management Adviser
Version: 4.0 January 27, 2004
Copyright © 1996-2004 University of Wyoming and University of Nebraska

Program Development: John D. Hastings and L. Karl Branting
Concept & design: John D. Hastings, L. Karl Branting, Jeffrey A. Lockwood
Entomological & pest management expertise: Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Alexandre V. Latchininsky, Scott P. Schell

CARMA produces advice about the most economical responses to Wyoming grasshopper infestations.  CARMA does this by predicting the proportion of available forage that will be consumed by grasshoppers and estimating the economic returns of various treatment options.  The information required to make the forage loss prediction includes the date, the infestation location on a Wyoming map, the range value and infestation history of the location, the number of grasshoppers per square yard, the grasshopper type and age distribution, the relative recent precipitation and temperatures, and the total area infested (including adjacent neighbors' lands).

Summary of CARMA's Internal Workings

CARMA is a case-based reasoning system that gives advice about the most economical responses to Wyoming grasshopper infestations based on roughly 140 combined years of entomologist expertise shared among eight experts in Wyoming.  Tests have shown that CARMA's grasshopper forage consumption predictions, which are the core of determining the best course of action, very closely approximate the median predictions of the Wyoming experts.  CARMA gives advice by comparing the current infestation to previous infestations (i.e., cases) and adapting the recommendations of the experts to fit the current infestation. Infestation probabilities for your location and the effectiveness of each treatment type are used to predict the future probabilities of re-infestation for each treatment type, and statistical methods are used to predict the range of economic benefits for each treatment option. Finally, a set of rules are used to select the possible treatments.

CARMA License

All commercial rights to CARMA are retained by the University of Wyoming and the University of Nebraska. CARMA is available free of charge to researchers, ranchers, farmers and employees of government agencies. CARMA may be copied free of charge provided that each copy bears this license and copyright notice: Copyright (C) 1996-2004 University of Wyoming and University of Nebraska.

Because CARMA is licensed free of charge, there is no warranty for the program. CARMA is provided 'as is' without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the program is with you. Should the program prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.

Due to the highly variable and unpredictable nature of weather in Wyoming and its effect on grasshopper infestations over an entire growing season and beyond, predictions from any source, including CARMA, cannot be expected to be 100% accurate.

Acknowledgments

Development of CARMA was supported by grants from the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture, a Faculty Grant-in-Aid from the University of Wyoming Office of Research, and NSF Career Grant IRI-9502152, Uniroyal Inc., the USDA, the University of Nebraska-Kearney Research Services Council, and the University of Nebraska-Kearney College of Natural and Social Sciences. Artwork is adapted from J. L. Capinera and T. S. Sechrist, Grasshoppers (Acrididae) of Colorado: Identification, Biology, and Management, Colorado State University Experiment Station Fort Collins Bulletin No. 584S, 1M, June 1982.

Contact Information

For questions regarding the performance of CARMA contact:
   Professor John D. Hastings
   Department of Computer Science
   University of Nebraska-Kearney
   Otto Olsen 116
   Kearney, NE 68849
   Tel: (308)865-8365
   Email: hastingsjd@unk.edu

For questions regarding grasshopper management contact:
   Professor Alexandre V. Latchininsky
   Department of Renewable Resources
   University of Wyoming
   P.O. Box 3354
   Laramie, WY 82071 -3354
   Tel: (307) 766-2298
   email: latchini@uwyo.edu

CARMA 4.0 Installation Instructions

1. To install CARMA 4.0 on your computer, first click on the following link, Click here to Download Carma 4.0, to download the file carma40setup.exe to the hard drive of your computer.

2. After saving the file carma40setup.exe on your computer's hard drive, starting this application will automatically install CARMA 4.0 on your computer's hard drive in a location you choose.

3. To start the program, click on Start, then Programs, then look for the folder labeled Carma 4.0.