The impact of resource dependence of the mechanisms of life on the spatial population dynamics of an in silico microbial community
Authored by Aisling J Daly, Jan M Baetens, Baets Bernard De
Date Published: 2016
DOI: 10.1063/1.4972788
Sponsors:
Flanders Research Foundation
Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO)
Platforms:
Mathematica
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Biodiversity has a critical impact on ecosystem functionality and
stability, and thus the current biodiversity crisis has motivated many
studies of the mechanisms that sustain biodiversity, a notable example
being non-transitive or cyclic competition. We therefore extend existing
microscopic models of communities with cyclic competition by
incorporating resource dependence in demographic processes, characteristics of natural systems often oversimplified or overlooked by
modellers. The spatially explicit nature of our individual-based model
of three interacting species results in the formation of stable spatial
structures, which have significant effects on community functioning, in
agreement with experimental observations of pattern formation in
microbial communities. Published by AIP Publishing.
Tags
Biodiversity
Index
Evolutionary game-theory
Rock-paper-scissors
Evenness
Competitive
intransitivity
Individual microbes
Species coexistence
Ecosystem
function
Ratio theory