Evolution of a Fluctuating Population in a Randomly Switching Environment

Karl Wienand, Erwin Frey, and Mauro Mobilia
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 158301 – Published 11 October 2017
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Abstract

Environment plays a fundamental role in the competition for resources, and hence in the evolution of populations. Here, we study a well-mixed, finite population consisting of two strains competing for the limited resources provided by an environment that randomly switches between states of abundance and scarcity. Assuming that one strain grows slightly faster than the other, we consider two scenarios—one of pure resource competition, and one in which one strain provides a public good—and investigate how environmental randomness (external noise) coupled to demographic (internal) noise determines the population’s fixation properties and size distribution. By analytical means and simulations, we show that these coupled sources of noise can significantly enhance the fixation probability of the slower-growing species. We also show that the population size distribution can be unimodal, bimodal, or multimodal and undergoes noise-induced transitions between these regimes when the rate of switching matches the population’s growth rate.

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  • Received 16 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.158301

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living SystemsInterdisciplinary PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Karl Wienand1, Erwin Frey1, and Mauro Mobilia2,*

  • 1Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstrasse 37, 80333 München, Germany
  • 2Department of Applied Mathematics, School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

  • *M.Mobilia@leeds.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 15 — 13 October 2017

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