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Published on: January 18, 2014
Spontaneous genetic clustering in populations of competing organisms
Tim Rogers1, Alan J McKane, Axel G Rossberg
1Theoretical Physics Division, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
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.
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