TeachingBase

NetLogo Model: Evolution and competition for resources (abstract)

This NetLogo model lets students explore how competition for resources can affect the evolution of a population and can result in resource overuse. This model is similar to the model Evolution and competition for forest resources, but more abstract.

The model simulates the use of a renewable resource by an evolving agent population. Agents can differ in their resource consumption traits – sustainable/low harvest behavior or greedy/high harvest behavior. The agents move to patches with the most resources in their neighborhood and harvest from the patches. The harvested resources equal the energy available to an agent, and agents expend energy to survive. The energy of an agent affects the chance of producing an offspring (through asexual reproduction). Offspring may mutate and have a different resource consumption trait variant than parents. Agents compete for both resources and space. In the world, the population dynamics and distributions of agents and resources can be observed.

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