Flocking behaviour in simple ecosystems as a result of artificial evolution

In this paper the FLOCK system is presented, which was designed to test the ability of simple genetic algorithm to evolve flocking behaviour in ecosystems consisting of plants, herbivores and predators. Open-ended evolution was applied in the experiments, first. Many different behaviours were observed, which were very similar to those in nature, for instance: the escape of herbivore from predators, making herbivores route towards plants or a pursuit of predators after herbivores. Another interesting behaviour was grouping of predators around plants, where the probability of meeting herbivores is greater than in other places. But open-ended evolution and complex vision system of animal were not sufficient to observe flocking behaviour. The advanced behaviour such as creation of flocks appeared as a result of steered evolution.