Abstract:

The Prisoner′s Dilemma (PD) game is the main theoretical framework in which the maintenance of cooperation in biological populations was studied. Spatial structure serves as the key to this dilemma. A  model of  a spatial PD game under a metapopulation framework was built, and  the  effects of habitat loss on cooperation and population size were studied. The main results were  that, due to moderate habitat loss, the fraction of  cooperators in the population was enhanced. Moreover, the population  size may undergo a temporary period of prosperity just before  extinction even while the habitat loss was increased.  These implied  that   the multibehavior strategy within a population may be a mechanism to defend against the influences    of the changing environment.

Key words: prisoner′s dilemma; habitat loss; cellular automation; cooperation evolution