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Effect of offspring distribution on population survival

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Abstract

The survival probabilities of newly-formed colonies of organisms arising from the branching process formulation of individual reproduction are examined. Six types of 2-parameter discrete offspring distributions common to mathematical ecology are compared with respect to survival of newly formed colonies of offspring. It is found that the survival value of the distribution can be rank ordered in the following descending order: modified Poisson (highest) Neyman A, geometric Poisson, Pólya-Aeppli, negative binomial and the modified geometric. Causal factors for these differences and practical implications of these results are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biometrics Section, The Nature Conservancy, London, England

    P. Holgate & K. H. Lakhani

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  1. P. Holgate
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  2. K. H. Lakhani
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Holgate, P., Lakhani, K.H. Effect of offspring distribution on population survival. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 29, 831–839 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02476931

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