A Cellular Automata Model of Population Infected by Periodic Plague

Abstract

Evolution of a population consisting of individuals, each holding a unique “genetic code”, is modeled on the 2D cellular automata lattice. The “genetic code” represents three episodes of life: the “youth”, the “maturity” and the “old age”. Only the “mature” individuals can procreate. Durations of the life-episodes are variable and are modified due to evolution. We show that the “genetic codes” of individuals self-adapt to environmental conditions in such a way that the entire ensemble has the greatest chance to survive. For a stable environment, the “youth” and the “mature” periods extend extremely during evolution, while the “old age” remains short and insignificant. The unstable environment is modeled by periodic plagues, which attacks the colony. For strong plaques the “young” individuals vanishes while the length of the “old age” period extends. We concluded that while the “maturity” period decides about the reproductive power of the population, the idle life-episodes set up the control mechanisms allowing for self-adaptation of the population to hostile environment. The “youth” accumulates reproductive resources while the “old age” accumulates the space required for reproduction.