Bio-Core

The Situation

This bio-simulation mathematically recreates the effects of two populations of two different species (Blue and Red) interacting with one another for a limited resource. You, the scientist, can manipulate four variables for each population. You can then study the growth of each population for as many time intervals as you like, and observe the effects on each population and species.

Variables

Size The initial (starting) size of the population as the study begins.
Growth This is the growth rate of the population.
Capacity This is the carrying capacity of the population.
Overlap This is a measure of the degree to which this population 'overlaps' with the second population in its competition for the resource.
The value of this number cannot exceed 1.0. Higher numbers mean higher degrees of effect and more competition.

Results

The results appear at the bottom of the simulation. You will see columns of three numbers. The first number is the time interval, the second number is the current size of the Blue population and the third number is the size of the Red population.

You can set the time intervals for as long as you like, but, depending on the speed of your computer, it will take much longer for the simulation to give you the complete set of results. While the simulation is working (and calculating) the word Growing will appear on the bottom right side of the simulation window. You cannot stop the simulation, or change any of the values, while this image is present. When it vanishes you can scroll the results window to see your results.

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