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arXiv · 2005.03686

Mortality makes coexistence vulnerable in evolutionary game of rock-paper-scissors

Sirshendu Bhattacharyya·Pritam Sinha·Rina De·Chittaranjan Hens
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Abstract

Multiple species in the ecosystem are believed to compete cyclically for survival and thus maintain balance in nature. Stochasticity has also an inevitable role in this dynamics. Considering these attributes of nature, the stochastic dynamics of the rock-paper-scissor model based on the idea of cyclic dominance becomes an effective tool to capture different aspects of ecosystem. The evolutionary dynamics of this model crucially depends on different interactions representing different natural habits. In this framework we explore the role of mortality of individual organism in the collective survival of a species. For this purpose a new parameter called `natural death' is introduced. It is meant for bringing about the decease of an individual irrespective of any intra- and interspecific interaction. We perform Monte Carlo simulation followed by the stability analysis of different fixed points of defined rate equations and observe that the natural death rate is surprisingly one of the most significant factors in deciding whether an ecosystem would come up with a coexistence or a single species survival.

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Sirshendu Bhattacharyya, Pritam Sinha, Rina De, Chittaranjan Hens. 2020-05-07. Mortality makes coexistence vulnerable in evolutionary game of rock-paper-scissors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.102.012220

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