Inproceedings,
Evolution and Growth of Virtual Plants
Advances in Artificial Life. 7th European Conference on Artificial Life, volume 2801 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, page 228--237. Dortmund, Germany, Springer, (14-17 September 2003)
DOI: DOI:10.1007/b12035
Abstract
According to the Red Queen hypothesis, an evolving
population may be improving some trait, even though its
fitness remains constant. We have created such a
scenario with a population of coevolving plants. Plants
are modelled using Lindenmayer systems and rendered
with OpenGL. The plants consist of branches and leaves.
Their reproductive success depends on their ability to
catch sunlight as well as their structural complexity.
All plants are evaluated inside the same environment,
which means that one plant is able to cover other
plants leaves. Leaves which are placed in the shadow of
other plants do not catch any sunlight. The shape of
the plant also determines the area where offspring can
be placed. Offspring can only be placed in the vicinity
of a plant. A number of experiments were performed in
different environments. The Red Queen effect was seen
in all cases.
