title: Role of evolution by natural selection in population dynamics.
abstract: Using a Monte Carlo approach we study the role of inheritance and natural selection in the dynamics of populations. We show that a population subject to inheritance has a much better chance of survival in a given condition than a population where new generations do not inherit genomes of their parents. The dependence of the survival chance on such factors as selection pressure, fecundity, or carrying capacity of the system is much stronger when selection and inheritance are present. We demonstrate, in accordance with biological observations, that in certain conditions evolution can save a population which would perish without it.
authors.affiliation: Insitut de Physique Théorique, Université de Genève, quai Ernest Ansermet 24, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Droz
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pekalski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D008954:Models, Biological; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013997:Time Factors