title: New species in evolving networks--stochastic theory of sensitive networks and applications on the metaphorical level.
abstract: In this paper we develop a theory to describe stochastic influences on the fate of new species with non-linear growth rates in evolutionary processes. We develop a theoretical framework based on notions of species, network, innovation, competition, survival and fitness. We introduce a stochastic picture describing the role of fluctuations in the survival of new species in non-linear systems. In particular we consider the fate of new species with non-linear growth. As an application of the general model framework we consider the fate of 'rare species' in early biological evolution. We show that hypercycle systems do not represent the end of the evolutionary process as they may evolve further in small niches. This has implications for different types of applications ranging from biological systems on one level to socio-technological systems on a more metaphoric level.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Humboldt University Berlin, Newtonstrasse 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. ebeling@physik.hu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ebeling
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feistel
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hartmann-Sonntag
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schimansky-Geier
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scharnhorst
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D019365:Metaphor; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D013045:Species Specificity; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D049490:Systems Biology