Experimental and Theoretical Research on the Ecologically Stable Species Set

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Since late 80s. the techniques such as Individual Based Model (IBM) and Artificial Life (A-Life) has been used as new techniques for better understanding the life process. These approaches differ from traditional differential equation models in the sense that these techniques try to construct the model system from bottom-up. These techniques seem to be more appropriate to describe and analyze the actual biological communities. In this study, we aimed to constract IBM and A-Life model based on our previous experimental studies on bean-bean weevil-parasitic wasp system, and to investigate the relationship between species abundance and system stability by bottom-up approach. Also, we aimed to compare the emergent model dynamics with dynamics of our experimental systems.During the past three years, we constructed experimental communities of theee trophic levels composed of bean, bean weevils, and parasitic wasps (multi species for each level), and followed their dynamics. On tho other hand, we constructed simulation models based on the A-Life approach, starting from relatively simple ones to increasingly complex ones, and investigated their dynamics.Our particular aim was to identify the possibility of the existence of "Ecologicaily Stable Species Set" (ESSS) after the long process of evolution in the systems experiencing thc intra-and interspecific competition for resource and also tho prey-predator interactions. We compared these results with those from A-Life systems in which we also found several such ESSS's. Finally we diseussed the importance of the concept of ESSS and the evolution of biotic communiites.