title: Spontaneous genetic clustering in populations of competing organisms.
abstract: We introduce and analyse an individual-based evolutionary model, in which a population of genetically diverse organisms compete with each other for limited resources. Through theoretical analysis and stochastic simulations, we show that the model exhibits a pattern-forming instability which is highly amplified by the effects of demographic noise, leading to the spontaneous formation of genotypic clusters. This mechanism supports the thesis that stochasticity has a central role in the formation and coherence of species.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Physics Division, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McKane
authors.forename: Axel G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Rossberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D003198:Computer Simulation; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D013269:Stochastic Processes