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Evolutionary branching and evolutionarily stable coexistence of predator species: Critical function analysis
Jian Zu1, Kaifa Wang, Masayasu Mimura
1Department of Applied Mathematics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China. jianzumb@gmail.com
Mathematical Biosciences
|March 16, 2011
Summary
Predator species can coexist and evolve through evolutionary branching. Trade-off functions determine if predators become specialists or generalists, leading to stable coexistence and diversification.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Theoretical Ecology
Background:
- Two predator species with linear functional responses can stably coexist on two competing prey species.
- Investigating the evolutionary stability of this coexistence and the potential for evolutionary branching.
Purpose of the Study:
- Determine conditions for evolutionary stable coexistence of two predator species.
- Explore predator evolution from a single ancestor via evolutionary branching.
- Analyze how trade-off functions influence predator specialization.
Main Methods:
- Adaptive dynamics
- Critical function analysis
- Algebraical analysis
Main Results:
- Weakly convex trade-off curves and weak interspecific prey competition facilitate evolutionary branching.
- Globally convex trade-off curves lead to the evolution of two extreme specialists.
- Smoothed step function-like trade-off curves allow for dimorphic generalists.
Conclusions:
- Evolutionary stable dimorphism is attractive and prevents further branching.
- Predator strategy diversification depends on trade-off function properties and prey competition intensity.
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