Group Selection vs Multi-Level Selection: Some Example Models Using Evolutionary Games

We present a model of multi-level selection. By this we mean the idea that there are multiple units of selection each of which operates on a different hierarchical level. Concretely we consider here a model of 3 hierarchical levels and various selection scenarios of adaptive conflict between levels. The main finding of this contribution is that in order for selection at higher level units to be effective, it has to occur at a high frequency compared to low level selection. From this we conclude that multi-level selection is biologically not very plausible