Related papers: On the origin of plankton patchiness
The characterization of plasticity, robustness, and evolvability, an important issue in biology, is studied in terms of phenotypic fluctuations. By numerically evolving gene regulatory networks, the proportionality between the phenotypic…
The transport of sea ice over the polar oceans plays an important role in climate. This transport is driven predominantly by turbulent winds, leading to stochastic motion of ice floes. Observed diffusivities and velocity distributions of…
Dune fields are commonly associated with periodic patterns that are among the most recognizable landscapes on Earth and other planetary bodies. However, in zones of limited sediment supply, where periodic dunes elongate and align in the…
We consider a generalization of the FKPP equation for the evolution of the spatial density of a single-species population where all the terms are nonlocal. That is, the spatial extension of each process (growth, competition and diffusion)…
Theoretical descriptions of the stepping-stone model, a cornerstone of spatial population genetics, have long overlooked diffusive noise arising from migration dynamics. We derive an exact fluctuating hydrodynamic description of this model…
We present studies for an individual based model of three interacting populations whose individuals are mobile in a 2D-lattice. We focus on the pattern formation in the spatial distributions of the populations. Also relevant is the…
The ecological invasion problem in which a weaker exotic species invades an ecosystem inhabited by two strongly competing native species is modelled by a three-species competition-diffusion system. It is known that for a certain range of…
The environment in which a population evolves can have a crucial impact on selection. We study evolutionary dynamics in finite populations of fixed size in a changing environment. The population dynamics are driven by birth and death…
Assembly theory predicts that a distinguishing signature of life is its ability to produce complex molecules in abundance, opening new possibilities for life detection. Experimental validation of this approach has so far relied on abiotic…
Spatially extended population dynamics models that incorporate intrinsic noise serve as case studies for the role of fluctuations and correlations in biological systems. Including spatial structure and stochastic noise in predator-prey…
Earth's atmosphere has evolved as volatile species cycle between the atmosphere, ocean, biomass and the solid Earth. The geochemical, biological and astrophysical processes that control atmospheric evolution are reviewed from an "Earth…
Spatial systems with heterogeneities are ubiquitous in nature, from precipitation, temperature and soil gradients controlling vegetation growth to morphogen gradients controlling gene expression in embryos. Such systems, generally described…
Global carbon-cycle on our planet ties together the living and the non-living world, coupling ecosystem function to our climate. Gravity driven downward flux of carbon in our oceans in the form of marine snow, commonly referred to as…
We study the intermittent fluorescence of a single molecule, jumping from the "light on" to the "light off" state, as a Poisson process modulated by a fluctuating environment. We show that the quasi-periodic and quasi-deterministic…
Over the last few decades, ecologists have come to appreciate that key ecological patterns, which describe ecological communities at relatively large spatial scales, are not only scale dependent, but also intimately intertwined. The…
Movement is a fundamental behaviour of organisms that brings about beneficial encounters with resources and mates, but at the same time exposes the organism to dangerous encounters with predators. The movement patterns adopted by organisms…
The growth of complex populations, such as microbial communities, forests, and cities, occurs over vastly different spatial and temporal scales. Although research in different fields has developed detailed, system-specific models to…
Vegetation in semi-arid ecosystems frequently organizes into spatially heterogeneous mosaics that regulate ecosystem functioning, productivity, and resilience. These patterns arise from local biological interactions, including facilitation…
We have generalized our ``unified'' model of evolutionary ecology by taking into account the possible movements of the organisms from one ``patch'' to another within the same eco-system. We model the spatial extension of the eco-system…
Cells generally change their internal state to adapt to an environmental change, and accordingly evolve in response to the new conditions. This process involves phenotypic changes that occur over several different time scales, ranging from…