A solution to the biodiversity paradox by logical deterministic cellular automata

Abstract

The paradox of biological diversity is the key problem of theoretical ecology. The paradox consists in the contradiction between the competitive exclusion principle and the observed biodiversity. This principle was formulated incorrectly because of limitations of the traditional black-box models of interspecific competition. The principle is very important as the basis for understanding evolutionary processes. Our white-box multiscale models are based on logical deterministic individual-based cellular automata. This approach allows to provide an automatic deductive inference on the basis of a system of axioms and to get a direct holistic insight into the studied system. It is one of the most promising methods of artificial intelligence. Here on simplest models we show a mechanism of competitive coexistence which violates the known formulations of the competitive exclusion principle. We reformulate and generalize the competitive exclusion principle and explain why our formulations provide a solution of the biodiversity paradox. In addition, we propose a principle of competitive coexistence.\n\nGraphical abstract\n\nO_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=88 SRC=\"FIGDIR/small/006817_ufig1.gif\" ALT=\"Figure 1000\">\nView larger version (21K):\norg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@17f69c5org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f91196org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@f1ce70org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@12829e8_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG