Digital organisms in a virtual ecosystem design and implementation.

摘要

In this thesis, I discuss the design and implementation of Digital Organisms in a Virtual Ecosystem (DOVE) to study phenotypic plasticity and trait-mediated interactions. We design and implement software that represent populations of model organisms (i.e. predators, omnivores, herbivores)---denoted digital organisms (DO)---that evolve and interact in a virtual ecosystem (VE) which is a spatial landscape with heterogeneous resources. DOVE is developed on the SWARM platform using Objective C to fulfill its core functions.;We adopt three principal inter-related computational tools and approaches (i) agent-based models (ABM) for emulation of natural complex systems (ii) computational methods to model the behavior of organisms (e.g. probabilistic rules); and (iii) genetic algorithms for individual adaptation.;We also conduct some experiments to examine competitive species on an aquatic food web by using DOVE. From the experiments, we arrive at some important hypotheses about phenotypic plasticity and trait-mediated interactions.;I present a DOVE user manual and parameter profiles. The profiles describe how to set up the simulation parameters of food webs and import/export information that helps with implementation.