In this study the evolution of the genetic composition of certain species will be replaced
by the evolution of the traits that represent these genetic compositions. Depending on the
nature of the trait of interest, a scalar valued parameter called the strategy parameter will
be assigned to this trait making the simulation of strategy evolution possible. The trait of
interest, and therefore the strategy associated, will be the ability of a population to keep
its densities within the carrying capacity of the environment they find themselves in. The
Shepherd function, on account of its wide use in population simulations as well as composing
of exactly such a density parameter, will be the density curbing mechanism of choice in the
age-structured population model designed here. An algorithm will be designed to simulate
strategy evolution towards an evolutionary stable strategy or ESS that will ensure not only
an optimal fit for this environment but also render the population immune against future
invasion by other members of the population practising slight variations of this strategy.
There are two ways to come by such an optimal strategy without directly involving genetics.
The first is game theory, allowing strategists to compete for this position, and the second
is with the use of adaptive dynamics, converting winning and loosing instead into tangible
mathematics. Combining these two classics will show that the quest is an excersize in
strategy optimization, not only from the point of view of an already established population
but also from the point of view of an initially small one. It will be interesting!
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-07172013-153746 |
| Date | 17 July 2013 |
| Creators | Ellis, Michelle Heidi |
| Contributors | Prof SW Schoombie |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-07172013-153746/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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