Reproductive pair correlations and the clustering of organisms
Authored by WR Young, AJ Roberts, G Stuhne
Date Published: 2001
DOI: 10.1038/35085561
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Abstract
Clustering of organisms can be a consequence of social behaviour, or of
the response of individuals to chemical and physical cues(1).
Environmental variability can also cause clustering: for example, marine
turbulence transports plankton(2-8) and produces chlorophyll
concentration patterns in the upper ocean(9-11). Even in a homogeneous
environment, nonlinear interactions between species(12-14) can result in
spontaneous pattern formation. Here we show that a population of
independent, random-walking organisms ('brownian bugs'), reproducing by
binary division and dying at constant rates, spontaneously aggregates.
Using an individual-based model, we show that clusters form out of
spatially homogeneous initial conditions without environmental
variability, predator-prey interactions, kinesis or taxis. The
clustering mechanism is reproductively driven-birth must always be
adjacent to a living organism. This clustering can overwhelm diffusion
and create non-poissonian correlations between pairs (parent and
offspring) or organisms, leading to the emergence of patterns.
Tags
Individuals
Plankton patchiness