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Noise in ecosystems: a short review
B Spagnolo1, D Valenti, A Fiasconaro
1Dipartimento di Fisica e Tecnologie Relative, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, Unitria di Palermo, Universitria di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, I-90128 Palermo, Italy. spagnolo@unipa.it.
Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering : MBE
|April 8, 2010
Summary
Noise interacting with living systems can cause unexpected effects like stochastic resonance and delayed extinction. This study explores noise impacts on various ecosystems, revealing complex dynamics and pattern formation.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Theoretical Ecology
- Mathematical Biology
Background:
- Nonlinearity in living systems interacts with environmental noise.
- Noise can induce counter-intuitive ecological phenomena.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review noise-induced effects in three distinct ecosystems.
- To analyze transient dynamics using generalized Lotka-Volterra equations with multiplicative noise.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of two competing species, three interacting species (predator-prey), and N-interacting species.
- Modeling environmental interactions with multiplicative noise, which is random or temperature-dependent.
Main Results:
- Observed noise-induced phenomena: quasi-deterministic oscillations, stochastic resonance, and noise-delayed extinction.
- Identified noise-induced pattern formation with nonmonotonic behaviors in pattern areas and density correlations.
- Derived asymptotic behavior for large N-interacting species ecosystems and discussed noise effects on population distributions.
Conclusions:
- Multiplicative noise significantly influences ecological dynamics and population distributions.
- Noise can lead to complex emergent behaviors, including pattern formation and altered stability in ecosystems.
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