Copyright © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Community-driven dispersal in an individual-based predator–prey model
Received 18 July 2007;
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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.
Keywords: Community-driven dispersal; Spatial model; Predator–prey dynamics; Individual-based modeling; Spatiotemporal patterns
Article Outline
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Definition of the model
- 2.1. The fitness
- 2.2. The dispersal process
- 3. Methods
- 4. Spatiotemporal dynamics
- 4.1. Community-driven dispersal
- 4.1.1. Spatial analysis
- 4.1.2. Temporal analysis
- 4.1.3. Impact of the scaling parameter
- 4.2. Density-independent dispersal
- 5. Discussion and conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References







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