Community-driven dispersal in an individual-based predator-prey model

Authored by Lael Parrott, Elise Filotas, Martin Grant, Per Arne Rikvold

Date Published: 2008

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2008.01.002

Sponsors: National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) United States National Science Foundation (NSF)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

We present a spatial, individual-based predator-prey model in which dispersal is dependent on the local community. We determine species suitability to the biotic conditions of their local environment through a time and space varying fitness measure. Dispersal of individuals to nearby communities occurs whenever their fitness falls below a predefined tolerance threshold. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the model is described in terms of this threshold. We compare this dynamics with the one obtained through density-independent dispersal and find marked differences. In the community-driven scenario, the spatial correlations in the population density do not vary in a linear fashion as we increase the tolerance threshold. Instead we find the system to cross different dynamical regimes as the threshold is raised. Spatial patterns evolve from disordered, to scale-free complex patterns, to finally becoming well-organized domains. This model therefore predicts that natural populations, the dispersal strategies of which are likely to be influenced by their local environment, might be subject to complex spatiotemporal dynamics. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tags
Cellular-automata Population-dynamics Ecological-systems Pattern-formation Dependent dispersal Spatial structure Local interactions Biological coevolution Spatiotemporal complexity Spectral-analysis