Tree Evolution Simulation

Edit: This was my first vid on youtube, and I didn't think the quality would get screwed up so bad. If I ever find a better way of doing it, I'll upload a new vid...

Edit 2: Click the "watch in high quality button" to make it less blurry...

This is a program written in Java that will evolve interestingly shaped trees.
Note: black = dying trees, white = non-mature new trees that are still growing
The trees consist of branches and leaves. Branches are for support only, leaves absorb light.
The light is the yellow dots. They give energy when touching a leaf.
The light diffuses, so the energy it gives decreases as it travels through multiple leaves.
The trees need energy to live. The bigger the tree, the more energy it uses. It also loses energy when creating offspring.
Trees also use more energy as they age.
The trees have a DNA made from a long list of numbers. The DNA describes the trees shape.
The DNA is read in genes of 8 numbers, with each gene representing a branch and/or leaf. The genes have special start codes. Random junk DNA can exist between genes.
Since it takes 8 numbers to create a branch, a lot of mutations are needed.
Mutations add, subtract or change numbers.
Adding and subtracting numbers have equal probabilities to eliminate bias.
Almost all mutations do nothing at all (due to junk DNA) or kill the tree; some help it ever so slightly.
Since the trees complete for light, trees with better shapes produce more offspring.
Small trees use less energy, but can only get used light.
Tall trees take longer to grow and use more energy, but they can get more light with more leaves, or better light by being tall.
The DNA also codes for how much energy are given to the seeds, color, energy given to growth, when to reproduce, and range of seed spread.
Seeds with high energy can grow without light until they can sustain themselves. Seeds with low energy can be spread like spores, but need to be very lucky to live (needs to be hit by a lot of light).
Trees like to mate with other trees of similar color and shape and within close proximity. This causes speciation early on. They can also asexually reproduce.
Trees that spread seeds with a larger range use more energy, but there less of a chance of competing with offspring.
The last ingredient is time. The simulation takes 7+ hours to run in real time.
They usually end up with a dominating species because there is only one environment, just like how large trees dominate a forest and few plants live on the forest floor.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• evolution
• mutation
• natural
• selection
• species
• simulation
• tree
• trees
• plant
• evolving
• environment
• java
• program
• computer
• genetic
• algorithm
• Zongyi
• science

[sjh7132]

I think the energy cost of height should be height ^ 2 because you need a stronger base to support a taller structure. I bet this would encourage more branching and a more classical tree.

Cool simulation!

[shade1978x]

I like the part where he says "This video is sped up." LOL

Yeah, because we don't have a few billion years to sit here and watch it happen in real-time. :D

Great vid, by the way!

[ZongyiYang]

@MrEmeraldfusion Apparently you can't just copy and paste that link :/ . I don't know why youtube doesn't let me post links. In order to get that link to work, you have to type it out by hand since copying and pasting the last part (1115323109) messes it up.

[ZongyiYang]

@MrEmeraldfusion @MrEmeraldfusion If you are still interested, here is a cool example:

pnas . org/content/early/2012/01/10/1­115323109 . full . pdf

(remove spaces)

They evolved single celled yeast into snowflake organisms by changing the environment. The snowflakes even made "seeds" by breaking off clusters at specific points with special suicide cells. This might be how the first multicell life looked like, although they would probably be simpler bacteria than advanced yeast.

[ZongyiYang]

@MrEmeraldfusion As for how seeds evolved separately, that is the evolution of multicellular life. By specializing certain cells, like seed cells vs leaf cells, they can work together to create a much more fit organism. It's like an army, you would have the strong guys fight and maybe the smart guys do intel (a simplification), but it wouldn't make sense to have intel guys fighting the front lines.

[ZongyiYang]

@MrEmeraldfusion The environment plays a huge factor, along with stuff like chance. Genetic Drift, like how my trees change colour (sometimes I get red trees, sometimes blue, but it isn't selected for) is chance, Natural Selection is dependent on environment (short trees can live in a forest of short trees, but not in a forest of tall trees).

[MrEmeraldfusion]

@ZongyiYang- Doesn't the environment play a factor in change? How did 'seeds evolve' seperately also well? tree cells/fruit cells/human cells? and they all developed separately, but they need each other to survive right?

[ZongyiYang]

@MrEmeraldfusion Probably random chance. The first cell that ate the photosynthesizing bacteria probably did it by accident. It reproduced and passed on it's bacteria keeping abilities to its children, giving them an advantage because they can harvest sunlight. The ones that could not swallow the bacteria became the animals. Nothing determined or forced them to be like that, it was just luck. If we re-rolled everything, we might not get the same luck and we might just have plantanimal hybrids.

[MrEmeraldfusion]

@ZongyiYang What determined plants to become 'plants' and human to become 'humans'? I understand plants work with mammals and mammals with plants.

[ZongyiYang]

@MrEmeraldfusion I am no biologist, but here is my best attempt:

Plants and humans are so different because evolution branches out instead of merging together new species (with some exceptions). A long time ago, all life were single celled. Some developed symbiotic relationships with photosynthetic bacteria, while some didn't. The ones that did became plants, the ones that didn't became animals. There is no half man half plant thing because the two branches could not merge after they diverged.

[MrEmeraldfusion]

Why are trees "trees" and humans "humans"? In the process of evolution why did plants end up being plants, and trees, and humans becoming humans?

[mysteriusBhoice]

they used to have a similar game like this up for download where u click folowers cross polinate self polinate stuff like that