Biomimicry of Plant Root Foraging for Distributed Optimization: Models and Emergent Behaviors

Terrestrial plants have evolved remarkable adaptability that enables them to sense environmental stimuli and use this information as a basis for governing their growth orientation and root system development. In this paper, we explain the foraging behaviors of plant root and develop simulation models based on the principles of adaptation processes that view root growing as optimization. This provides us with novel models of plant root foraging behavior and with new methods for global optimization. This model is instantiated as a novel bio-inspired optimization model, which adopts the root foraging, memory and communication, and auxin-regulated mechanisms of the root system. We perform comprehensive simulation to demonstrate that the proposed model exhibit the property identified by natural plant root system. That is, in order to be able to climb noisy gradients in nutrients in soil, the foraging behaviors of root system is social and cooperative that is analogous to animal foraging behaviors.