Seeing the Wood for the Trees: Emergent Order in Growth and Behaviour

The patterns we see in the growth of a plant or the behaviour of animals can appear very complex, but there are often simple rules that underlie what we see. Systems of rules, called L-systems can capture the organisation of branching patterns and other features of growing plants. Simple rules of behaviour can explain many features of animal behaviour; multi-agent simulations use these rules to model community organisation and interaction with the environment.