title: Demographic stochasticity versus spatial variation in the competition between fast and slow dispersers.
abstract: Dispersal is an important strategy that allows organisms to locate and exploit favorable habitats. The question arises: given competition in a spatially heterogeneous landscape, what is the optimal rate of dispersal? Continuous population models predict that a species with a lower dispersal rate always drives a competing species to extinction in the presence of spatial variation of resources. However, the introduction of intrinsic demographic stochasticity can reverse this conclusion. We present a simple model in which competition between the exploitation of resources and stochastic fluctuations leads to victory by either the faster or slower of two species depending on the environmental parameters. A simplified limiting case of the model, analyzed by closing the moment and correlation hierarchy, quantitatively predicts which species will win in the complete model under given parameters of spatial variation and average carrying capacity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, USA. seoc@umich.edu
authors.forename: Jack N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Waddell
authors.forename: Leonard M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Doering
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013269:Stochastic Processes