In biology, there is a direct and dynamic relationship between an individual’s form , in terms of shape, size, number and connection of limbs, and the functions that the individual can perform, such as temperature regulation, movement, and reproduction. These relationships influence the biological diversity of existing and extinct species, and there is a critical need for biologists to further understand them. The analysis of the interplay between form, function, and environmental constraints on current species is a challenging task. The problem is difficult to formalize due to the many form and function models that need to be encoded, requiring real data for their definition. However, current research focuses on understanding how forms of imagined species can evolve to achieve optimal functions, without using real data to encode species diversity and functions. In this paper, we present an approach to study the interplay between form and function. Using reallife data collected from field experiments, our multi-objective optimization framework allows for the definition of various functions, including swimming speed, reproduction potential, and an organism’s morphology. As an example, we employ our approach to determine the optimal forms for maximum swimming speed and reproduction potential in a group of marine amphipods.

We present a position-based dynamics model for microcolony growth. In addition to achieving fast and stable simulation of thousands of cells, this model allows for the computation of cell interaction with the environment without sacrificing robustness and predictability. We introduce state-of-the-art principles of synthetic biology into our framework to enable biologically-informed microcolony pattern formation. We give detailed implementation of growth, communication, and external influences within the system and demonstrate our method for several scenarios which are experimentally verified. Finally, we provide a use case for rapid simulations enabled through our method including parameter search for tuning spoke-based pattern formation utilizing predefined and formulated biological primitives.

We introduce the idea of Synthetic Acoustic Ecology (SAC) as a vehicle for transdisciplinary investigation to develop methods and address open theoretical, applied and aesthetic questions in scientific and artistic disciplines of acoustic ecology. Ecoacoustics is an emerging science that investigates and interprets the ecological role of sound. It draws conceptually from, and is reinvigorating the related arts-humanities disciplines historically associated with acoustic ecology, which are concerned with sonically-mediated relationships between human beings and their environments. Both study the acoustic environment, or soundscape, as the literal and conceptual site of interaction of human and non-human organisms. However, no coherent theories exist to frame the ecological role of the soundscape, or to elucidate the evolutionary processes through which it is structured. Similarly there is a lack of appropriate computational methods to analyse the macro soundscape which hampers application in conservation. We propose that a sonically situated flavour of Alife evolutionary agent-based model could build a productive bridge between the art, science and technologies of acoustic ecological investigations to the benefit of all. As a first step, two simple models of the acoustic niche hypothesis are presented which are shown to exhibit emergence of complex spectro-temporal soundscape structures and adaptation to and recovery from noise pollution events. We discuss the potential of SAC as a lingua franca between empirical and theoretical ecoacoustics, and wider transdisciplinary research in ecoacoustic ecology.