Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Evolution of Staircase Structures in Diffusive Convection
Published on: September 5, 2018
Evolution of dispersal in closed advective environments
King-Yeung Lam1, Yuan Lou, Frithjof Lutscher
1a Department of Mathematics , The Ohio State University , Columbus , OH 43210 , USA.
Abstract:
We study a two-species competition model in a closed advective environment, where individuals are exposed to unidirectional flow (advection) but no individuals are lost through the boundary. The two species have the same growth and advection rates but different random dispersal rates. The linear stability analysis of the semi-trivial steady state suggests that, in contrast to the case without advection, slow dispersal is generally selected against in closed advective environments. We investigate the invasion exponent for various types of resource functions, and our analysis suggests that there might exist some intermediate dispersal rate that will be selected. When the diffusion and advection rates are small and comparable, we determine criteria for the existence and multiplicity of singular strategies and evolutionarily stable strategies. We further show that every singular strategy is convergent stable.
Related Concept Videos
Speciation Rates
Gene Flow
Distribution and Dispersion
Genetic Drift
The Evidence for Evolution
Formation of Species

