title: Sources and sinks: a stochastic model of evolution in heterogeneous environments.
abstract: We study evolution driven by spatial heterogeneity in a stochastic model of source-sink ecologies. A sink is a habitat where mortality exceeds reproduction so that a local population persists only due to immigration from a source. Immigrants can, however, adapt to conditions in the sink by mutation. To characterize the adaptation rate, we derive expressions for the first arrival time of adapted mutants. The joint effects of migration, mutation, birth, and death result in two distinct parameter regimes. These results may pertain to the rapid evolution of drug-resistant pathogens and insects.
authors.affiliation: Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. hermsen@ctbp.ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Rutger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hermsen
authors.forename: Terence
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hwa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004777:Environment; D008954:Models, Biological; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013997:Time Factors