Competition and species coexistence in a metapopulation model: Can fast asymmetric migration reverse the outcome of competition in a homogeneous environment?

Exploring spatial segregation induced by competition avoidance as driving mechanism for emergent coexistence in microbial communities

This study investigates the role of spatial segregation, prompted by competition avoidance, as a key mechanism for emergent coexistence within microbial communities. Recognizing these communities as complex adaptive systems, we challenge the sufficiency of mean-field pairwise interaction models, and we consider the impact of spatial dynamics. We developed an individual-based spatial simulation depicting bacterial movement through a pattern of random walks influenced by competition avoidance, leading to the formation of spatially segregated clusters. This model was integrated with a Lotka-Volterra metapopulation framework focused on competitive interactions. Our findings reveal that spatial segregation combined with low diffusion rates and high compositional heterogeneity among patches can lead to emergent coexistence in microbial communities. This reveals a novel mechanism underpinning the formation of stable, coexisting microbe clusters, which is nonetheless incapable of promoting coexistence in the case of isolated pairs of species. This study underscores the importance of considering spatial factors in understanding the dynamics of microbial ecosystems.

The competition model with Holling type II competitive response to interfering time

In Nature, species coexistence is much more frequent than what the classical competition model predicts, so that scientists look for mechanisms that explain such a coexistence. We revisit the classical competition model assuming that individuals invest time in competing individuals of the other species. This assumption extends the classical competition model (that becomes a particular case of the model presented) under the form of a Holling type II term, that we call competitive response to interfering time. The resulting model expands the outcomes allowed by the classical model by (i) enlarging the range of parameter values that allow coexistence scenarios and (ii) displaying dynamical scenarios not allowed by the classical model: namely, bi-stable conditional coexistence in favour of i (either species coexist or species i wins) or tri-stable conditional coexistence (either species coexist or any of them goes extinct), being exclusion in both cases due to priority effects.

Global redistribution and local migration in semi-discrete host-parasitoid population dynamic models

Host-parasitoid population dynamics is often probed using a semi-discrete/hybrid modeling framework. Here, the update functions in the discrete-time model connecting year-to-year changes in the population densities are obtained by solving ordinary differential equations that mechanistically describe interactions when hosts become vulnerable to parasitoid attacks. We use this semi-discrete formalism to study two key spatial effects: local movement (migration) of parasitoids between patches during the vulnerable period; and yearly redistribution of populations across patches outside the vulnerable period. Our results show that in the absence of any redistribution, constant density-independent migration and parasitoid attack rates are unable to stabilize an otherwise unstable host-parasitoid population dynamics. Interestingly, inclusion of host redistribution (but not parasitoid redistribution) before the start of the vulnerable period can lead to stable coexistence of both species. Next, we consider a Type-III functional response (parasitoid attack rate increases with host density), where the absence of any spatial effects leads to a neutrally stable host-parasitoid equilibrium. As before, density-independent parasitoid migration by itself is again insufficient to stabilize the population dynamics and host redistribution provides a stabilizing influence. Finally, we show that a Type-III functional response combined with density-dependent parasitoid migration leads to stable coexistence, even in the absence of population redistributions. In summary, we have systematically characterized parameter regimes leading to stable/unstable population dynamics with different forms of spatial heterogeneity coupled to the parasitoid's functional response using mechanistically formulated semi-discrete models.

Population abundance of two-patch competitive systems with asymmetric dispersal

This paper considers two-species competitive systems with two patches, in which one of the species can move between the patches. One patch is a source where each species can persist alone, but the other is a sink where the mobile species cannot survive. Based on rigorous analysis on the model, we show global stability of equilibria and bi-stability in the first octant Int[Formula: see text]. Then total population abundance of each species is explicitly expressed as a function of dispersal rates, and the function of the mobile species displays a distorted surface, which extends previous theory. A novel prediction of this work is that appropriate dispersal could make each competitor approach total population abundance larger than if non-dispersing, while the dispersal could reverse the competitive results in the absence of dispersal and promote coexistence of competitors. It is also shown that intermediate dispersal is favorable, large or small one is not good, while extremely large or small dispersal will result in extinction of species. These results are important in ecological conservation and management.

Effects of Behavioural Strategy on the Exploitative Competition Dynamics

We investigate a system of two species exploiting a common resource. We consider both abiotic (i.e. with a constant resource supply rate) and biotic (i.e. with resource reproduction and self-limitation) resources. We are interested in the asymmetric competition where a given consumer is the locally superior resource exploiter (LSE) and the other is the locally inferior resource exploiter (LIE). They also interact directly via interference competition in the sense that LIE individuals can use two opposite strategies to compete with LSE individuals: we assume, in the first case, that LIE uses an avoiding strategy, i.e. LIE individuals go to a non-competition patch to avoids competition with LSE individuals, and in the second one, LIE uses an aggressive strategy, i.e. being very aggressive so that LSE individuals have to go to a non-competition patch. We further assume that there is no resource in the non-competition patch so that individuals have to come back to the competition patch for their maintenance, and the migration process acts on a fast time scale in comparison with demography and competition processes. The models show that being aggressive is efficient for LIE's survival and even provoke global extinction of the LSE and this result does not depend on the nature of resource.

SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY, FAST MIGRATION AND COEXISTENCE OF INTRAGUILD PREDATION DYNAMICS

In this paper, we investigate effects of spatial heterogeneous environment and fast migration of individuals on the coexistence of the intraguild predation (IGP) dynamics. We present a two-patch model. We assume that on one patch two species compete for a common resource, and on the other patch one species can capture the other one for the maintenance. We also assume IGP individuals are able to migrate between the two patches and the migration process acts on a fast time scale in comparison with demography, predation and competition processes. We show that under certain conditions the heterogeneous environment and fast migration can lead to coexistence of the two species.