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Individual variability and population regulation: an individual‐based model
Author(s) -
Uchmański Janusz
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
oikos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1600-0706
pISSN - 0030-1299
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.900312.x
Subject(s) - intraspecific competition , extinction (optical mineralogy) , population , population model , competition (biology) , ecology , biology , econometrics , mathematics , demography , paleontology , sociology
To study the influence of individual variability on population dynamics an individual‐based model of the dynamics of a single population consisting of different individuals is constructed. The model is based on differences in individual assimilation rates due to intraspecific competition and variability of initial weights. The model exhibits “imperfect regulation”, i.e., the number of individuals in the population oscillates and sooner or later the population becomes extinct. When individual variability is included, the model produces longer population extinction times than without individual variability. The average extinction time is not however a monotonic function of the degree of individual variability.