Population consequences of the competition of variable individuals for different kinds of resources

Abstract

Individual-based model of the dynamics of population with non-overlapping generation and explicitly introduced resources which are unequal partitioned between competing individuals is analysed. It is investigated how individual variability in assimilation of different kinds of resources influences population dynamics. Following kinds of resources are considered: unlimited resources with linear or exponential growth and limited resources growing logistically or with seasonal dynamics. When resources are unlimited population dynamics exhibits oscillations of number of individuals and resources which sooner or later end in extinction of the population. An increase of individual variability increases extinction time. Population dynamics is different when resources growth is limited. Number of individuals in the population initially increases until a certain level is reached, then fluctuates around that level. However, still greater individual variability guarantees greater persistence of the population, especially in rich environments.

Keywords

• individual-based model, individual variability, population dynamics, unlimited resource growth, limited resource growth