Population Dynamics in a Changing Environment: Random versus Periodic Switching

Ami Taitelbaum, Robert West, Michael Assaf, and Mauro Mobilia
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 048105 – Published 24 July 2020
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Abstract

Environmental changes greatly influence the evolution of populations. Here, we study the dynamics of a population of two strains, one growing slightly faster than the other, competing for resources in a time-varying binary environment modeled by a carrying capacity switching either randomly or periodically between states of abundance and scarcity. The population dynamics is characterized by demographic noise (birth and death events) coupled to a varying environment. We elucidate the similarities and differences of the evolution subject to a stochastically and periodically varying environment. Importantly, the population size distribution is generally found to be broader under intermediate and fast random switching than under periodic variations, which results in markedly different asymptotic behaviors between the fixation probability of random and periodic switching. We also determine the detailed conditions under which the fixation probability of the slow strain is maximal.

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  • Received 13 February 2020
  • Revised 13 May 2020
  • Accepted 23 June 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.048105

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Nonlinear DynamicsPhysics of Living SystemsInterdisciplinary PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Ami Taitelbaum1,‡, Robert West2,‡, Michael Assaf1,*, and Mauro Mobilia2,†

  • 1Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
  • 2Department of Applied Mathematics, School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

  • *michael.assaf@mail.huji.ac.il
  • M.Mobilia@leeds.ac.uk
  • Equally contributed to this work.

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Issue

Vol. 125, Iss. 4 — 24 July 2020

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