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arXiv · 1506.07624

Spatial structures in a simple model of population dynamics for parasite-host interactions

J. J. Dong·B. Skinner·N. Breecher·B. Schmittmann·R. K. P. Zia
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Abstract

Spatial patterning can be crucially important for understanding the behavior of interacting populations. Here we investigate a simple model of parasite and host populations in which parasites are random walkers that must come into contact with a host in order to reproduce. We focus on the spatial arrangement of parasites around a single host, and we derive using analytics and numerical simulations the necessary conditions placed on the parasite fecundity and lifetime for the populations long-term survival. We also show that the parasite population can be pushed to extinction by a large drift velocity, but, counterintuitively, a small drift velocity generally increases the parasite population.

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J. J. Dong, B. Skinner, N. Breecher, B. Schmittmann, R. K. P. Zia. 2015-06-25. Spatial structures in a simple model of population dynamics for parasite-host interactions. https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075%2F111%2F48001

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