A cellular model for spatial population dynamics

Interacting populations exhibit complex behavior in nature. Classic quadratic iteration models with two or three populations exhibit some of the features seen in nature, but fail to account for spatial variation. Indeed, the diversity paradox is that many classic population models predict one species dominates while nature exhibits diversity. While various schemes have been presented to address this dilemma, we present a simple, deterministic cellular model that incorporates classic iteration schemes and a spatial migration component that provides for self-organizing and rich behavior. Our visualization method allows us to observe dynamically changing predominance of species, global diversity, waves of species progression, and highly organized spiral structures.

Title	A cellular model for spatial population dynamics
Creator	Umbrasas, R.
	Staten, C.
	Long, J. T.
	Dong, C. Y.
	Reiter, Clifford A.
Publisher	Computers and Graphics
Academic Department	Mathematics
Division	Natural Sciences
Organization	Lafayette College
Date Issued	2010
Date Available	2015-04-21T19:26:04Z
Type	Article
Language	English
Keyword	predator-prey
	population cycles
	cellular automata
	continuous automata
Bibliographic Citation	Dong, C. Y., et al. (2010) "A cellular model for spatial population dynamics." Computers and Graphics 34 (2): 176-81.
Standard Identifier	DOI 10.1016/j.cag.2010.01.005
Standard Identifier	Handle 10385/1838
Permalink	http://hdl.handle.net/10385/1838
Rights Statement	In Copyright
Rights Holders	Elsevier Ltd.