Re: fitness landscape creation

[Theodore C. Belding]

Hi Dan-
You might want to take a look at the literature on trying to estimate
fitness and fitness landscapes in  real organisms. I'm not sure how useful
that will actually be for you, since the experimental techniques and the
genetics of the organisms are probably very different. But it's probably at
least worth knowing about:

Ridley, M. (1993). Evolution. Blackwell Scientific, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Chapter 5.

Here's the most famous study on reconstructing a fitness landscape from nature:
Lewontin, R. C., and M. J. D. White. (1960). Interaction between inversion
polymorphisms and two character pairs in the grasshopper, Moraba scurra.
Evolution 14:116-29.

But see:
Allard, R. W., and C. Wehrhahn (1964). A theory wich predicts stable
equilibrium for inversion polymorphisms in the grasshopper, Moraba scurra.
Evolution 18:129-30.

Wright, S. (1978). Evolution and the genetics of populations, vol. 4:
Variability within and among natural populations. pp. 127-45. University of
Chicago Press.

Turner, J. R. G. (1972). Selection and stability in the complex
polymorphism of Moraba scurra. Evolution 26: 334-43.

In any case, keep in mind that the concept of "fitness landscape" is very
slippery and hard to be rigorous about or operationalize, as Terry Jones
has pointed out.  You'll want to at least read what Provine has to say on
the topic:

Provine, W. B. (1986). Wrinkles in the surface of selective value. In Sewall
Wright and Evolutionary Biology, chapter 9, pages 307-317. University of
Chicago Press, Chicago.

Wright, S. (1932). The roles of mutation, inbreeding, crossbreeding and
selection in evolution. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress
of Genetics, pages 356-366. Reprinted in Wright, S. (1986). Evolution:
Selected Papers. Edited by W. B. Provine. U of Chicago Press. pp. 161-171.

Wright, S. (1988). Surfaces of selective value revisited. American
Naturalist 131:115-123.

Jones, T. (1995). One operator, one landscape. SFI Working Paper
95-002-025, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA.
http://www.santafe.edu/sfi/publications/Working-Papers/95-02-025.ps

Hope that helps.
-Ted

--
Ted Belding                               address@hidden
University of Michigan Program for the Study of Complex Systems
http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~streak/



                  ==================================
   Swarm-Support is for discussion of the technical details of the day
   to day usage of Swarm.  For list administration needs (esp.
   [un]subscribing), please send a message to <address@hidden>
   with "help" in the body of the message.
                  ==================================