Efficient Simulations of Individual Based Models for Adaptive Dynamics and the Canonical Equation

Abstract: We propose a faster algorithm for individual based simulations for adaptive dynamics based on a simple modification to the standard Gillespie Algorithm for simulating stochastic birth-death processes. We provide an analytical explanation that shows that simulations based on the modified algorithm, in the deterministic limit, lead to the same equations of adaptive dynamics as well as same conditions for evolutionary branching as those obtained from the standard Gillespie algorithm. Based on this algorithm, we provide an intuitive and simple interpretation of the canonical equation of adaptive dynamics. With the help of examples we compare the performance of this algorithm to the standard Gillespie algorithm and demonstrate its efficiency. We also study an example using this algorithm to study evolutionary dynamics in a multi-dimensional phenotypic space and study the question of predictability of evolution.