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THE ROLE OF THE DELAY TIME IN THE MODELING OF BIOLOGICAL RANGE EXPANSIONS
Author(s) -
Ortega-Cejas Vicente,
Fort Joaquim,
Méndez Vicenç
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/02-0606
Subject(s) - dimensionless quantity , range (aeronautics) , diffusion , statistical physics , biological system , spacetime , mathematics , product (mathematics) , physics , mechanics , biology , thermodynamics , materials science , quantum mechanics , geometry , composite material
The time interval between successive migrations of biological species causes a delay time in the reaction–diffusion equations describing their space–time dynamics. This lowers the predicted speed of the waves of advance, as compared to classical models. It has been shown that this delay‐time effect improves the modeling of human range expansions. Here, we demonstrate that it can also be important for other species. We present two new examples where the predictions of the time‐delayed and the classical (Fisher) approaches are compared to experimental data. No free or adjustable parameters are used. We show that the importance of the delay effect depends on the dimensionless product of the initial growth rate and the delay time. We argue that the delay effect should be taken into account in the modeling of range expansions for biological species.