Research Article
A minimal model of coevolution between learning and niche construction
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/icst.bict.2014.257902, author={Naoki Hayashi and Reiji Suzuki and Takaya Arita}, title={A minimal model of coevolution between learning and niche construction}, proceedings={8th International Conference on Bio-inspired Information and Communications Technologies (formerly BIONETICS)}, publisher={ICST}, proceedings_a={BICT}, year={2015}, month={2}, keywords={learning niche construction coevolution scale-free ecological inheritance artificial life}, doi={10.4108/icst.bict.2014.257902} }- Naoki Hayashi
Reiji Suzuki
Takaya Arita
Year: 2015
A minimal model of coevolution between learning and niche construction
BICT
ACM
DOI: 10.4108/icst.bict.2014.257902
Abstract
Recently, roles of ecological processes such as learning and niche construction in evolution are attracting much attention in evolutionary studies. However, various interactions among ecological processes, including these two, are still poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to clarify self-organizing properties of coevolution between learning and niche construction. We construct a minimal evolutionary model in which individuals can both perform learning and niche construction. We found that there was a clear scale-free property in the distribution of the size of environmental changes. It was also shown that these changes were caused by the increased generic variation of niche-constructing genes, followed by the increase in the phenotypic plasticity. The analyses of effects of ecological inheritance showed that it decreased the speed and size of environmental changes, while maintaining the scale-free property of the whole dynamics.