From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Mon Aug 01 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!munnari.oz.au!newsroom.utas.edu.au!medicalsch49h98.med.utas.edu.au!user From: Kath.Nesbitt@plant.utas.edu.au () Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Conferences Followup-To: bionet.population-bio Date: Tue, 02 Aug 1994 14:57:16 +1000 Organization: University of Tasmania Lines: 8 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: medicalsch49h98.med.utas.edu.au I am presently working on popualiton gentics of eucalypts using molecular techniques. I am interested in all aspects of plant molecular biology and molecular aspects of forestry. I am particularaly interested in forestry in Asia (or any other work in Asia) and would be interested in attending conferences associatted with this. Does anyone know of any conferences next year that would be good? Thanks Katherine From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Tue Aug 02 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!overload.lbl.gov!ames!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!uunet!newsflash.concordia.ca!nstn.ns.ca!whonig.psychology.dal.ca!user From: sgadbois@ac.dal.ca (Simon Gadbois) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Social stress theory Followup-To: bionet.population-bio Date: 3 Aug 1994 12:54:55 -0300 Organization: Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University Lines: 12 Sender: news@nstn.ns.ca Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: owl.nstn.ns.ca What is the origin of the social stress theory (references ?) of population control ? Who tagged the expression first ? Private answers can be send to SGADBOIS @ AC.DAL.CA Thank you very much. -- Simon Gadbois Animal Behavior Program Department of Psychology Dalhousie University Halifax, N.S., Canada B3H 4J1 From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Wed Aug 03 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!BIOMSERV.UNIV-LYON1.FR!fcourch From: fcourch@BIOMSERV.UNIV-LYON1.FR (Franck Courchamp) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: SUBSCRIBE POPULATION-BIOLOGY Date: 4 Aug 1994 04:51:20 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 5 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: <9408041254.AA00654@biomserv.univ-lyon1.fr> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net SUBSCRIBE POPULATION-BIOLOGY Franck Courchamp fcourch@biomserv.univ-lyon1.fr From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Thu Aug 04 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!msuinfo!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!munnari.oz.au!metro!ob1.uws.edu.au!tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU From: ABMB000 Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Wildlife Corridors Date: 05 AUG 94 12:42:55 -1100 Organization: University of Western Sydney, Macarthur Lines: 11 Sender: usenet@musica.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU Message-ID: <05AUG94.13732560.0011@tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU> NNTP-Posting-Host: tscc.macarthur.uws.edu.au Could someone recomend books or other information on the importznce of w ildlofe corridors. I might be doing some work on this and I need to know where to get started. Thanks in advance. MIROSLAV BELIK E-MAIL M.BELIK@UWS.EDU.AU UNIVERSITY WESTERN SYDNEY, MACARTHUR. TEL. 61-46-203-520 FAC. BUS. & TECH. FAX. 61-46-266-683 P.O. BOX 555, CAMPBELLTOWN NSW 2560 AUSTRALIA From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sat Aug 06 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!sunic!trane.uninett.no!eunet.no!nuug!EU.net!uunet!newstf01.cr1.aol.com!search01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: jlboone@aol.com (JLBoone) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: Wildlife Corridors Date: 6 Aug 1994 22:17:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 26 Sender: root@search01.news.aol.com Message-ID: <321g70$orv@search01.news.aol.com> References: <05AUG94.13732560.0011@tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU> NNTP-Posting-Host: search01.news.aol.com Here are a few wildlife corridor references from my database. They are a random collection, but they may help get you started. Beier, P. 1993. Determining minimum habitat areas and habitat corridors for cougars. Conservation Biology, 7: 94-108. LaPolla, V. N., and G. W. Barrett. 1993. Effects of corridor width and pressence on the population dynamics of the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Landscape Ecology, 8: 25-37. Merriam, G., and A. Lanoue. 1990. Corridor use by small mammals: field measurement for three experimental types of Peromyscus leucopus. Landscape Ecology 4: 123-131. Soule, M.E., and D. Simberloff. 1986. What do genetics and ecology tell us about the design of nature reserves? Biol. Conser. 35:19-40. Szzcki, J. 1987. Ecological corridor as a factor determining the structure and organization of a bank vole population. Acta Theriologica 32: 31-44. Wegner, J. F., and G. Merriam. 1979. Movement by birds and small mammals between a wood and adjoining farmland habitats. Conserv. Biol. 2:349-357. Good luck, Jim From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Mon Aug 08 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!msuinfo!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!metro!ob1.uws.edu.au!tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU From: ABMB000 Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: GIS Date: 09 AUG 94 13:21:54 -1100 Organization: University of Western Sydney, Macarthur Lines: 13 Sender: usenet@musica.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU Message-ID: <09AUG94.14434340.0068@tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU> NNTP-Posting-Host: tscc.macarthur.uws.edu.au Thanks for all the info people have sent me on wildlife corridors. It is very much appreciated. Another point has arrisen since and that is , I w ill need to set up a GIS system. Does any one know what sort of software is used and available and are there any books that explain the system. ( Or any other publications for that matter). Thank you again. MIROSLAV BELIK E-MAIL M.BELIK@UWS.EDU.AU UNIVERSITY WESTERN SYDNEY, MACARTHUR. TEL. 61-46-203-520 FAC. BUS. & TECH. FAX. 61-46-266-683 P.O. BOX 555, CAMPBELLTOWN NSW 2560 AUSTRALIA From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Tue Aug 09 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!emory!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!swiss.ans.net!newstf01.cr1.aol.com!search01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: inin@aol.com (Inin) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: GIS Date: 10 Aug 1994 12:44:01 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 7 Sender: news@search01.news.aol.com Message-ID: <32b04h$2kf@search01.news.aol.com> References: <09AUG94.14434340.0068@tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU> NNTP-Posting-Host: search01.news.aol.com In article <09AUG94.14434340.0068@tscc.macarthur.uws.EDU.AU>, ABMB000 writes: ARC-Info is currently the most popular GIS software programme. Other programmes include Atlas-GIS (which I don't recommend) and EPPL-7. Check with your local geography department for more information and/or classes you could take. From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sat Aug 13 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!swiss.ans.net!newstf01.cr1.aol.com!search01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: wymermd@aol.com (Wymermd) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: Population and Land Date: 14 Aug 1994 19:29:02 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 9 Sender: news@search01.news.aol.com Message-ID: <32m9bu$j4k@search01.news.aol.com> References: <9407291848591.DLITE.janissary@delphi.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: search01.news.aol.com In article <9407291848591.DLITE.janissary@delphi.com>, janissary@delphi.com (John Ennis) writes: John, I sent the essay to a number of people a few weeks age. Did you get it? It is about 35 K bytes, so don't try to read it on line. Let me hear from you. Bob Wymer From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sun Aug 14 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!netnews.upenn.edu!lhyatt From: lhyatt@mail.sas.upenn.edu (Laura Hyatt) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: What's the doubling rate? Date: 15 Aug 1994 12:54:05 GMT Organization: University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences Lines: 11 Message-ID: <32nohd$g38@netnews.upenn.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: mail.sas.upenn.edu Hi. I'm writing a lab manual and want to know the doubling rate of the population of the United States. (We do a lab on bacterial growth and I want this data for an example.) Can you either refer me to how to find this statistic out or give me the #??? Thanks in advance -- post here or email me directly : lhyatt@mail.sas.upenn.edu. From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Mon Aug 15 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!news.uoregon.edu!sugar-cane.uoregon.edu!user From: student@oregon.uoregon.edu (student) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Cardamine oligasperma Followup-To: bionet.population-bio Date: 16 Aug 1994 18:23:37 GMT Organization: Bi 103 Spring '94 Lines: 16 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: sugar-cane.uoregon.edu Hello! I'm doing several projects with Cardamine oligasperma. I'd like to know if anyone has any information on their germination conditions, growing conditions or techniques for manually crossing them. I'd also like to hear from anyone in Oregon, California, Washington or British Columbia who wouldn't mind collecting seeds from a few plants for me or has observed plants with a stamen number other than the six that is descriptive of the family Cruciferae, of which Cardamine is a member. Thank you very much for any information or help you may be willing to give! Any messages can be posted here or E-mailed directly to me devarts@oregon.uoregon.edu "The Wise Man Looks to the Blade of Grass to Understand the Universe." From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Wed Aug 17 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!news.tamu.edu!news From: Rogelio Saenz Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: What's the doubling rate? Date: 18 Aug 1994 14:52:18 GMT Organization: Texas A&M University Lines: 24 Message-ID: <32vsj2$gc9@news.tamu.edu> References: <32nohd$g38@netnews.upenn.edu> Reply-To: rsaenz@rsocsun.tamu.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: rsocpcc.tamu.edu X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.90.5 In article <32nohd$g38@netnews.upenn.edu>, lhyatt@mail.sas.upenn.edu (Laura Hyatt) says: > > >Hi. I'm writing a lab manual and want to know the doubling rate of the >population of the United States. (We do a lab on bacterial growth and I >want this data for an example.) Can you either refer me to how to find >this statistic out or give me the #??? > >Thanks in advance -- post here or email me directly : >lhyatt@mail.sas.upenn.edu. > > > According to the Population Reference Bureau's *1994 World Population Data Sheet*, at the current growth rate it would take 98 years for the U.S. population to double. The complete citation is: Population Reference Bureau. 1994. 1994 World Population Data Sheet. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau. Hope this helps. Rogelio Saenz From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sat Aug 20 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!swiss.ans.net!newstf01.cr1.aol.com!search01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: wymermd@aol.com (Wymermd) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: population & econ. growth Date: 21 Aug 1994 07:56:01 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 18 Sender: news@search01.news.aol.com Message-ID: <337fch$hgc@search01.news.aol.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: search01.news.aol.com An article in 21 Aug New Yort Times by Julian L. Simon refers to a 1986 report by the Nat Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. Anybody know how this report might be obtained? Several conclusions mentioned by Simon should be chalanged: Quoting from article, "Most important, it recognizes that one family's having more children does not make another family poorer in the world's goods: this conclusion is supported by two decades of research by population economists." The question I have is at what level of standard of living are we talking about with reference to these families? Are families who have more children than they can personally provide for (at the acceptaed standard of living assumed by the proponents of this argument) being sustained by others in the society who can produce an excess which will be given chairatably or taxed from them to provide for these additional children? P.S. I will be out of town a couple of weeks. Thanks, in advance for any help on this interesting issue. From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sun Aug 21 23:00:00 1994 Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!quads!ecec From: ecec@quads.uchicago.edu (Eric Cabot) Subject: Re: population & econ. growth Message-ID: <1994Aug22.132836.26828@midway.uchicago.edu> Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System) Reply-To: ecec@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: University of Chicago References: <337fch$hgc@search01.news.aol.com> Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 13:28:36 GMT Lines: 10 In article <337fch$hgc@search01.news.aol.com> wymermd@aol.com (Wymermd) writes: > An article in 21 Aug New Yort Times by Julian L. Simon refers to a 1986 >report by the Nat Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. > Anybody know how this report might be obtained? For starters, you might want to try pointing your gopher/web browser at gopher.nas.edu to see if you can find the material you seek. Regards, Eric Cabot From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Mon Aug 22 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!haven.umd.edu!cs.umd.edu!newsfeed.gsfc.nasa.gov!ltpsun.gsfc.nasa.gov!robinson From: robinson@ltpsun.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jon Robinson) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: population & econ. growth Date: 23 Aug 1994 17:21:26 GMT Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center -- Greenbelt, Maryland USA Lines: 8 Distribution: world Message-ID: <33db6m$iqs@paperboy.gsfc.nasa.gov> References: <337fch$hgc@search01.news.aol.com> <1994Aug22.132836.26828@midway.uchicago.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: ltpsun.gsfc.nasa.gov Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Keywords: Simon You should note the Julian Simon is the Rush Limbaugh of economics. He gave a talk at GSFC a few years ago. He seems to think the environment is just fine as long as his racket ball court has air conditioning. He also miss uses time series and confuses correlation with causation. But don't worry, he is well paid by the economic interests that benefit from his spreading miss information. - Jon From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sun Aug 28 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!sunic!trane.uninett.no!eunet.no!nuug!EU.net!uunet!newstf01.cr1.aol.com!search01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: wymermd@aol.com (Wymermd) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: population & econ. growth Date: 28 Aug 1994 22:47:08 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 5 Sender: news@search01.news.aol.com Message-ID: <33ri7c$962@search01.news.aol.com> References: <1994Aug22.132836.26828@midway.uchicago.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: search01.news.aol.com In article <1994Aug22.132836.26828@midway.uchicago.edu>, ecec@quads.uchicago.edu (Eric Cabot) writes: Eric, thanks for the info. I will give your suggestion a try. Bob Wymer From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sun Aug 28 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!sunic!columba.udac.uu.se!populus.slu.se!jokarlsson!jan-olof.karlsson From: jan-olof.karlsson@mykopat.slu.se (Jan-Olof Karlsson) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Two professors in Forest Microbiology and Pathology Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 13:08:19 Organization: Dept. of Forest Mycology and pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Scien Lines: 17 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: jokarlsson.mykopat.slu.se X-Newsreader: Trumpet for Windows [Version 1.0 Rev A] POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT Two full professors at the Department of Forest Mycology and Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. - One professor in Forest Microbiology, Incl. Pathology and - one professor in Pathology of Forest Trees The professors will be employed by February 1, 1996, and August 1, 1995, respectively. Applications by September 25, 1994. For the positions are needed scientific, pedagogic and administrative skills, relevant for the subjects areas. Information: Prof. Torgny Unestam and Martin Johansson, phone +46-18 67 1873 and 18 67 1875, respectively. Address: P.O. Box 7026, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. Fax: +46-18 30 92 45. Internet: Jan-Olof.Karlsson@mykopat.slu.se From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Sun Aug 28 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!agate!library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!news.uoregon.edu!netnews.nwnet.net!news.u.washington.edu!math.washington.edu!hillman From: hillman@math.washington.edu (Christopher Hillman) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio,bionet.information-theory Subject: Total mass versus total population occupying a given niche Date: 29 Aug 1994 16:32:22 GMT Organization: "University of Washington, Mathematics, Seattle" Lines: 44 Distribution: world Message-ID: <33t2im$5fo@news.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: escher.math.washington.edu I am interested in estimating the total mass and total population of Homo sapiens, to compare with the same data for ``all other organisms'', ``all land plants'', ``all marine organisms'', ``all domestic animals and pets'', ``all wild mammals'', ``all bacteria'', etc. My interest in this was originally motivated by my curiosity about the extent to which human beings dominate this planet--- the total mass of humanity versus other organisms seems one way to assess this. Since we are large organisms and have a huge population, I would guess we probably make quite a blip. We might outweigh all edible fish, but do we outweigh all bacteria? (I wouldn't be suprised.) All plankton? (Probably not, but I guess we might not be that far behind.) I realize there might be some ambiguity in how one computes the number & mass of organims like corals; do you count polyps individually, and do you neglect mineral accretions in computing the mass? But bear in mind I am just interested in getting an order of magnitude. Does anyone know where I can find such estimates, or estimates from which I can compute the relative net masses? Have there been any theoretical attempts to model the distribution of mass versus total population size taken over niches? (I say niches because I am interested in something which would hold true on other planets or other epochs in Earths history.) The Equipartition Theorem of information theory (this a corollary of the so-called Shannon-MacMillan-Breiman Theorem) says, in essence, that for ergodic shift dynamical systems, all sequences of symbols that you are likely to observe in practice behave alike. A little more precisely: if (X,M,p,S) is an ergodic measure-theoretical dynamical system and A is the finite partition X = union over j of the A_j, and h(S,A) is the entropy with respect to A, and if we consider the sequences s_j(x) where s_j(x) = j iff S^j(x) in A_j, then the number of plausible sequences of length n is about e^{nh(S,A)}, and the probability of observing any one plausible sequence is about e^{-nh(S,A)}. The other sequences dominate in number but are negligible in terms of their net probability measure. Moreover, all the plausible sequences have essentially the same statistics. Does this suggest that if evolution proceeded like an ergodic dynamical system, there would be only one niche? (I am thinking of sequences as being possible biographies; that is, let the symbols denote environmental circumstances. If all plausible biographies are very similar, then any sensible breeding population should evolve to fit the same lifestyle.) Does anyone know of any papers modeling niches as equilibrium measures of non-ergodic dynamical systems? How about a recent review paper on applications of dynamical systems in theoretical ecology/population bio? (For the definition of measure-theoretical dynamical systems, equilibrium measures, ergodic, entropy with respect to a partition, & shifts, see Walters, Introduction to Ergodic Theory, Springer, 1982. For the Equipartition Theorem, see Thomas & Cover, Elements of Information Theory, Wiley, 1991.) Chris Hillman P.S.: if you think I should repost this to another newsgroup, please email me, or at least delete my name and email address. (I don't want our Graduate Committee to worry needlessly about why I am spending the time to post this question!) From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Mon Aug 29 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!HYOWON.CC.PUSAN.AC.KR!yspark From: yspark@HYOWON.CC.PUSAN.AC.KR (Youngseuk Park) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Ecological Modelling ? Date: 30 Aug 1994 08:32:27 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 15 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: <9408301436.AA51405@hyowon.cc.pusan.ac.kr> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Do anybody knows where the "International Society of Ecological Modelling " is located ? How can I contact the society to be member ? Do anybody knows ? Thank you... Sincerely, Park Young-Seuk yspark@hyowon.cc.pusan.ac.kr From owner-population-bio@net.bio.net Wed Aug 31 23:00:00 1994 Path: biosci!galaxy.ucr.edu!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdcc12!cs!fil From: fil@cs.ucsd.edu (Filippo Menczer) Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: LEE 1.2a Message-ID: <72501@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> Date: 1 Sep 94 22:51:48 GMT Sender: news@sdcc12.ucsd.edu Organization: CSE Dept., U.C. San Diego Lines: 184 Nntp-Posting-Host: billy.ucsd.edu The latest LEE release is available as shown below. Some bugs of Rel. 1.2 (body.c file) have been fixed: thanks to those who pointed them out. The only other change is in the 'table' and 'config' applications which assist in setting up simulations: they now contain a better explanation of this possibly difficult task. Apple users, please read the new README file. Filippo Menczer fil@ucsd.edu ========================== LEE release 1.2a Latent Energy Environments ========================== The LEE artificial life simulator is available via FTP/WWW. This is the latest release: the code is under continuous development, so further stable releases will be made available in the future at the same site. You may download the software (Unix/Mac souces and/or executables, documentation, and a technical report) as follows: FTP> cs.ucsd.edu (132.239.51.3) login: anonymous password: your_email_address cd pub/LEE get ... bye WWW> URL http://www-cse.ucsd.edu:80/users/fil/ look for the `Latent Energy Environments' (software and documentation) and `Papers' links... Filename Format Content ---------------------------------------------------------------- README ASCII general info lee.doc ASCII documentation pinep.ps.Z compressed PostScript LEE model/results paper lee1*.Unix.sh ASCII shar archive LEE 1.* Unix source lee1*.Mac.sh mixed shar archive LEE 1.* Mac add'l source lee1*exe.Mac.sh binhexed shar archive LEE 1.* Mac executables ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please read README for general information, and lee.doc for specific information on how to compile and run the program. To get the PostScript paper, use the Unix utility 'uncompress'. To unpack the source and/or Mac executables you can use the Unix 'sh' or 'unshar' utility. After this, to get the binary Mac executables and/or resource file, use, eg, 'BinHex 4.0'. LEE is (c) University of California, San Diego. Authors: Richard Belew and Filippo Menczer (Cognitive Computer Science Research Group, CSE Dept, UC San Diego). Please send important comments, suggestions, and bugs to the latter (fil@ucsd.edu). You may freely copy/distribute the software, except for commercial purposes, and as long and the notices in the source headers are preserved. Other contributions to the code are from: Stefano Nolfi and Jeff Elman; Greg Linden (Mac interactive version); and Federico Cecconi (sensory system). OVERVIEW OF LEE (from lee.doc) ============================== LEE (Latent Energy Environments) is both an Alife model and a software tool to be used for simulations within the framework of that model. We hope that LEE will help us understand a broad range of issues in theoretical, behavioral, and evolutionary biology. The LEE tool described here consists of approximately 7,000 lines of C code and runs in both Unix and Macintosh platforms. The modeling of environmental complexity across different Alife experiments is perhaps the main motivation behind this project. LEE allows the specification of environments of graduated complexity. A spacially distributed series of "atomic elements" must be combined to transform their "latent potential energy" into "work" necessary for survival. Behavioral strategies must be evolved by the population such as to allow an efficient exploitation of the available energy. This latent energy can be used to measure the environment complexity with respect to the survival task. A steady-state genetic algorithm is used in the LEE model rather then a lock-step generational one. The progression of the adaptive process is measured in terms of time rather than generations. At any one time step possibly all the organisms in the population may live, use and/or acquire energy, and reproduce or die. Consequently, the size of the population varies with time. If latent energy is not made available at a rate sufficient to support the energy expense of the population, extintion may occur. An organism is implemented by a feed-forward neural network plus a sensory-motor system and a gut, i.e. a reservoir for energy, both in work (usable) and latent (atomic elements) form. The sensory system consists of a user-specified set of sensors that are mapped onto the network input units. The network may have as many hidden layers as desired. The output layer maps its activation values onto the motor system, made of a set of user-specified motors. Learning can occur in the current version by means of standard back-propagation of error. The error is computed on an input prediction task. Each organisms lives by moving in a world consisting of a rectangular grid with toroidal edge conditions. Each basic life cycle (sweep) consists of 5 steps: 1. Gather information about the surrounding world by means of a set of sensors. 2. Elaborate the sensory information to produce a motor action. 3. Make a movement in the world by means of a set o motors. 4. (Optional) Learn. 5. Consequences of the movement: there is an energy cost, there may be an energy increase or decrease (depending on the contents of the new world position and the reactions caused by the acquisition of such contents), and finally these energy changes may result in death or reproduction. Different sensor systems implemented in the current version are: GUT, CONTACT, and AMBIENT. The first senses elements present in an organism's own gut; the second senses those present in the world cell in front of the position currently occupied by the organism; the third senses those present in a local range, weighed according to their distange in number of steps. Each sensor has a complex that identifies which elements can be sensed by it. There is one simple motor system currently implemented: BINARY. It allows the organism to make one of four possible moves: stay still, turn left or right 90 degrees, or move ahead. Each motor has a power that specifies how far the organism can be moved by it. ============================================ FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF RELATED PAPERS PLEASE USE THE World Wide Web homepage of Filippo Menczer (see above). The following paper is available on the ftp site as 'pinep.ps.Z'. In UNIX, use 'uncompress pinep.ps.Z' to get the Postscript format, and 'lpr pinep.ps' to print. Menczer F and Belew RK (1994) 'Latent Energy Environments' To appear in Belew RK and Mitchell M (eds) Plastic Individuals in Evolving Populations. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. Addison Wesley Abstract: A novel ALife model and simulator, called LEE, is introduced and described. The motivation lies in the need for a measure of complexity across different ALife experiments. This goal is achieved through a careful characterization of environments in which different forms of energy are well-defined and conserved. A steady-state genetic algorithm is used to model the evolutionary process. Organisms in the population are modeled by neural networks with non-Lamarckian learning during life. Behaviors are shown to be crucial in the interactions between organisms and their environment. The flexibility of LEE for the study of a variety of problems related to complex evolutionary systems is illustrated by some general emerging properties of the model, and by preliminary results of a number of experiment currently under way. === Filippo Menczer and Richard K. Belew Cognitive Computer Science Research Group Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, 0114 University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA 92093-0114 USA Fax: (619)534-7029 Email: fil@ucsd.edu ===