Environment
Within the ambient_light environment, the quality of the light changes according to the availability of spare energy in the system and in response to the varying success of the different species.
The environment brightens and dims in time with fluctuations in the amount of spare energy available – more light means more plants can germinate and grow, beginning the energy cycle through the ecosystem.
As species multiply the light levels fall until there is not enough available energy to produce any more new plants or to sustain the existent population. Accompanying a dimming of light levels there will generally be a high death rate among the plant population with younger individuals being especially vulnerable.
Energy is freed back into the environment through the death and metabolism of individuals of all species. When death rates are high, or when the system as a whole approaches total extinction, there will be a sudden marked increase in light levels. This is generally enough to stimulate sufficient plant growth to regenerate the system with actual mass extinction being a fairly rare event.
The hue of the light changes depending on the relative dominance of one species over the others at any moment.
Thus, an orange environment signifies the relative success of the plant population, while green light indicates that predators are doing well. The colour of the light cycles through all intermediate hues so that there are times when the shade seems to hover and fluctuate around some transitional colour as two species compete for dominance.
The dominance of a species is not necessarily an indication of high population levels. It has more to do with the amount of energy a species as a whole has absorbed.