An individual-based predator-prey model for biological coevolution: Fluctuations, stability, and community structure

Abstract

We study an individual-based predator-prey model of biological coevolution, using linear stability analysis and large-scale kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The model exhibits approximate 1/f noise in diversity and population-size fluctuations, and it generates a sequence of quasi-steady communities in the form of simple food webs. These communities are quite resilient toward the loss of one or a few species, which is reflected in different power-law exponents for the durations of communities and the lifetimes of species. The exponent for the former is near -1, while the latter is close to -2. Statistical characteristics of the evolving communities, including degree (predator and prey) distributions and proportions of basal, intermediate, and top species, compare reasonably with data for real food webs.

28 pages, 18 figures. Significantly expanded discussion of community structure and comparison with real food webs. Phys. Rev. E accepted

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• Complex dynamics in coevolution models with ratio-dependent functional response
• Tangled Nature: A model of emergent structure and temporal mode among co-evolving agents
• Tempo and Mode of Evolution in the Tangled Nature Model
• Network Growth with Preferential Attachment for High Indegree and Low Outdegree
• Degree Correlations in a Dynamically Generated Model Food Web
• Complex Behavior in Simple Models of Biological Coevolution
• Effects of stochastic population fluctuations in two models of biological macroevolution