arXiv subjects

B. F. de Oliveira

Publications and source records attributed to B. F. de Oliveira.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Quantifying scale-free behaviors in Rock-Paper-Scissors Models as a function of Mobility

We investigate the scale-free behavior of the spatial rock-paper-scissors model with May-Leonard dynamics, analyzing specific quantifiers that engender the power-law feature. The main results show that an important parameter that drives the scale-free behavior is the mobility, which can be used to quantitatively describe several scale-free aspects of the model, such as the number of clusters, the characteristic length, the individuals' lifespan and its corresponding mean traveled distance. All of these are novel quantifiers of current practical interest for the study of biodiversity.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2025

Monitoring biodiversity on highly reactive rock-paper-scissors models

This work investigates how biodiversity is affected in a cyclic spatial May-Leonard model with hierarchical and non-hierarchical rules. Here we propose a generalization of the traditional rock-paper-scissors model by considering highly reactive species, i. e., species that react in a stronger manner compared to the others in respect to either competition or reproduction. These two classes of models, called here Highly Competitive and Highly Reproductive models, may lead to hierarchical and non-hierarchical dynamics, depending on the number of highly reactive species. The fundamental feature of these models is the fact that hierarchical models may as well support biodiversity, however, with a higher probability of extinction than the non-hierarchical ones, which are in fact more robust. This analysis is done by evaluating the probability of extinction as a function of mobility. In particular, we have analyzed how the dominance scheme changes depending on the highly reactive species for non-hierarchical models, where the findings lead to the conclusion that highly reactive species are usually at a disadvantage compared to the others. Moreover, we have investigated the power spectrum and the characteristic length of each species, including more information on the behavior of the several systems considered in the present work.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2024

Chaotic behavior in Lotka-Volterra and May-Leonard models of biodiversity

Quantification of chaos is a challenging issue in complex dynamical systems. In this paper, we discuss the chaotic properties of generalized Lotka-Volterra and May-Leonard models of biodiversity, via the Hamming distance density. We identified chaotic behavior for different scenarios via the specific features of the Hamming distance and the method of q-exponential fitting. We also investigated the spatial autocorrelation length to find the corresponding characteristic length in terms of the number of species in each system. In particular, the results concerning the characteristic length are in good accordance with the study of the chaotic behavior implemented in this work.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Is the public goods game a chaotic system?

This work deals with the time evolution of the Hamming distance density for the public goods game. We consider distinct possibilities for this game, which are exactly described by a function called $q$-exponential, that represents a deformation of the usual exponential function parametrized by $q$, suggesting that the system belongs to the class of weakly-chaotic systems when $q < 1$. These possibilities are related to the amount of players allowed in each game.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2022

Role of predator-prey reversal in Rock-Paper-Scissors models

In this letter we consider a single parameter generalization of the standard three species Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) model allowing for predator-prey reversal. This model, which shall be referred to as $κ$RPS model, incorporates bidirectional predator-prey interactions between all the species in addition to the unidirectional predator-prey interactions of the standard RPS model. We study the dynamics of a May-Leonard formulation of the $κ$RPS model using lattice based spatial stochastic simulations with random initial conditions. We find that if the simulation lattices are sufficiently large for the coexistence of all three species to be maintained, the model asymptotically leads to the formation of spiral patterns whose evolution is qualitatively similar to that of the standard RPS model, albeit with larger characteristic length and time scales. We show that there are in general two distinct scaling regimes: one transient curvature dominated regime in which the characteristic length of the population network grows with time and another where it becomes a constant. We also estimate the dependence of the asymptotic value of the characteristic length of the population network on the likelihood of predator-prey reversal and show that if the simulation lattices are not sufficiently large then predator-prey reversal can have a significant negative impact on coexistence. Finally, we interpret these results by considering the much simpler dynamics of circular domains.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Influence of the neighborhood on cyclic models of biodiversity

This work deals with the influence of the neighborhood in simple rock-paper-scissors models of biodiversity. We consider the case of three distinct species which evolve under the standard rules of mobility, reproduction and competition. The rule of competition follows the guidance of the rock-paper-scissors game, with the prey being annihilated, leaving an empty site in accordance with the May-Leonard proposal for the predator and prey competition. We use the von Neumann neighborhood, but we consider mobility under the presence of the first, second and third neighbors in three distinct environments, one with equal probability and the others with probability following the power law and exponential profiles. The results are different, but they all show that increasing the neighbourhood increases the characteristic length of the system in an important way. We have studied other possibilities, in particular the case where one modifies the manner a specific species competes, unveiling the interesting result in which the strongest individuals may constitute the less abundant population.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Lotka-Volterra versus May-Leonard formulations of the spatial stochastic Rock-Paper-Scissors model: the missing link

The Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) model successfully reproduces some of the main features of simple cyclic predator-prey systems with interspecific competition observed in nature. Still, lattice-based simulations of the spatial stochastic RPS model are known to give rise to significantly different results, depending on whether the three state Lotka-Volterra or the four state May-Leonard formulation is employed. This is true independently of the values of the model parameters and of the use of either a von Neumann or a Moore neighborhood. With the objective of reducing the impact of the use of a discrete lattice, in this paper we introduce a simple modification to the standard spatial stochastic RPS model in which the range of the search of the nearest neighbor may be extended up to a maximum euclidean radius $R$. We show that, with this adjustment, the Lotka-Volterra and May-Leonard formulations can be designed to produce similar results, both in terms of dynamical properties and spatial features, by means of an appropriate parameter choice. In particular, we show that this modified spatial stochastic RPS model naturally leads to the emergence of spiral patterns in both its three and four state formulations.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Effects of a pestilent species on the stability of cyclically dominant species

Cyclic dominance is frequently believed to be a mechanism that maintains diversity of competing species. But this delicate balance could also be fragile if some of the members is weakened because an extinction of a species will involve the annihilation of its predator hence leaving only a single species alive. To check this expectation we here introduce a fourth species which chases exclusively a single member of the basic model composed by three cyclically dominant species. Interestingly, the coexistence is not necessarily broken and we have detected three consecutive phase transitions as we vary only the invasion strength of the fourth pestilent species. The resulting phases are analyzed by different techniques including the study of the Hamming distance density profiles. Some of our observations strengthen previous findings about cyclically dominant system, but they also offer new revelations and counter-intuitive phenomenon, like supporting pestilent species may result in its extinction, hence enriching our understanding about these very simple but still surprisingly complex systems.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Impact of parity in rock-paper-scissors type models

We investigate the impact of parity on the abundance of weak species in the context of the simplest generalization of the rock-paper-scissors model to an arbitrary number of species -- we consider models with a total number of species ($N_S$) between 3 and 12, having one or more (weak) species characterized by a reduced predation probability (by a factor of ${\mathcal P}_w$ with respect to the other species). We show, using lattice based spatial stochastic simulations with random initial conditions, large enough for coexistence to prevail, that parity effects are significant. We find that the performance of weak species is dependent on whether the total number of species is even or odd, especially for $N_S \le 8$, with odd numbers of species being on average more favourable to weak species than even ones. We further show that, despite the significant dispersion observed among individual models, a weak species has on average a higher abundance than a strong one if ${\mathcal P}_w$ is sufficiently smaller than unity -- the notable exception being the four species case.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Environment driven oscillation in an off-lattice May--Leonard model

Cyclic dominance of competing species is an intensively used working hypothesis to explain biodiversity in certain living systems, where the evolutionary selection principle would dictate a single victor otherwise. Technically the May--Leonard models offer a mathematical framework to describe the mentioned non-transitive interaction of competing species when individual movement is also considered in a spatial system. Emerging rotating spirals composed by the competing species are frequently observed character of the resulting patterns. But how do these spiraling patterns change when we vary the external environment which affects the general vitality of individuals? Motivated by this question we suggest an off-lattice version of the tradition May--Leonard model which allows us to change the actual state of the environment gradually. This can be done by introducing a local carrying capacity parameter which value can be varied gently in an off-lattice environment. Our results support a previous analysis obtained in a more intricate metapopulation model and we show that the well-known rotating spirals become evident in a benign environment when the general density of the population is high. The accompanying time-dependent oscillation of competing species can also be detected where the amplitude and the frequency show a scaling law of the parameter that characterizes the state of the environment. These observations highlight that the assumed non-transitive interaction alone is insufficient condition to maintain biodiversity safely, but the actual state of the environment, which characterizes the general living conditions, also plays a decisive role on the evolution of related systems.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Weak species in rock-paper-scissors models

In this letter, we investigate the population dynamics in a May-Leonard formulation of the rock-paper-scissors game in which one or two species, which we shall refer to as "weak", have a reduced predation or reproduction probability. We show that in a nonspatial model the stationary solution where all three species coexist is always unstable, while in a spatial stochastic model coexistence is possible for a wide parameter space. We find, that a reduced predation probability results in a significantly higher abundance of "weak" species, in models with either one or two "weak" species, as long as the simulation lattices are sufficiently large for coexistence to prevail. On the other hand, we show that a reduced reproduction probability has a smaller impact on the abundance of "weak" species, generally leading to a slight decrease of its population size -- the increase of the population size of one of the "weak" species being more than compensated by the reduction of the other, in the two species case. We further show that the species abundances in models where both predation and reproduction probabilities are simultaneously reduced may be accurately estimated from the results obtained considering only a reduction of either the predation or the reproduction probability.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Mobility driven coexistence of living organisms

We propose a minimal off-lattice model of living organisms where just a very few dynamical rules of growth are assumed. The stable coexistence of many clusters is detected when we replace the global restriction rule by a locally applied one. A rich variety of evolving patterns is revealed where players movement has a decisive role on the evolutionary outcome. For example, intensive individual mobility may jeopardize the survival of the population, but if we increase players movement further then it can save the population. Notably, the collective drive of population members is capable to compensate the negative consequence of intensive movement and keeps the system alive. When the drive becomes biased then the resulting unidirectional flow alters the stable pattern and produce a stripe-like state instead of the previously observed hexagonal arrangement of clusters. Interestingly, the rotation of stripes can be flipped if the individual movement exceeds a threshold value.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2021

Social dilemmas in off-lattice populations

Exploring the possible consequences of spatial reciprocity on the evolution of cooperation is an intensively studied research avenue. Related works assumed a certain interaction graph of competing players and studied how particular topologies may influence the dynamical behavior. In this paper we apply a numerically more demanding off-lattice population approach which could be potentially relevant especially in microbiological environments. As expected, results are conceptually similar to those which were obtained for lattice-type interaction graphs, but some spectacular differences can also be revealed. On one hand, in off-lattice populations spatial reciprocity may work more efficiently than for a lattice-based system. On the other hand, competing strategies may separate from each other in the continuous space concept, which gives a chance for cooperators to survive even at relatively high temptation values. Furthermore, the lack of strict neighborhood results in soft borders between competing patches which jeopardizes the long term stability of homogeneous domains. We survey the major social dilemma games based on pair interactions of players and reveal all analogies and differences compared to on-lattice simulations.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2020

Breaking unidirectional invasions jeopardizes biodiversity in spatial May-Leonard systems

Non-transitive dominance and the resulting cyclic loop of three or more competing species provide a fundamental mechanism to explain biodiversity in biological and ecological systems. Both Lotka-Volterra and May-Leonard type model approaches agree that heterogeneity of invasion rates within this loop does not hazard the coexistence of competing species. While the resulting abundances of species become heterogeneous, the species who has the smallest invasion power benefits the most from unequal invasions. Nevertheless, the effective invasion rate in a predator and prey interaction can also be modified by breaking the direction of dominance and allowing reversed invasion with a smaller probability. While this alteration has no particular consequence on the behavior within the framework of Lotka-Volterra models, the reactions of May-Leonard systems are highly different. In the latter case, not just the mentioned "survival of the weakest" effect vanishes, but also the coexistence of the loop cannot be maintained if the reversed invasion exceeds a threshold value. Interestingly, the extinction to a uniform state is characterized by a non-monotonous probability function. While the presence of reversed invasion does not fully diminish the evolutionary advantage of the original predator species, but this weakened effective invasion rate helps the related prey species to collect larger initial area for the final battle between them. The competition of these processes determines the likelihood in which uniform state the system terminates.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2020

Pattern formations driven by cyclic interactions: a brief review of recent developments

Lotka's seminal work (A.J. Lotka A., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 6 (1920) 410) "on certain rhythmic relations'' is already one hundred years old, but the research activity about pattern formations due to cyclical dominance is more vibrant than ever. It is because non-transitive interactions have paramount role on maintaining biodiversity and adequate human intervention into ecological systems requires deeper understanding of related dynamical processes. In this perspective article we overview different aspects of biodiversity, with focus on how it can be maintained based on mathematical modeling of last years. We also briefly discuss the potential links to evolutionary game models of social systems, and finally, give an overview about potential prospects for future research.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2020

Rock-paper-scissors models with a preferred mobility direction

We investigate a modified spatial stochastic Lotka-Volterra formulation of the rock-paper-scissors model using off-lattice stochastic simulations. In this model one of the species moves preferentially in a specific direction -- the level of preference being controlled by a noise strength parameter $η\in [0, 1]$ ($η= 0$ and $η= 1$ corresponding to total preference and no preference, respectively) -- while the other two species have no referred direction of motion. We study the behaviour of the system starting from random initial conditions, showing that the species with asymmetric mobility has always an advantage over its predator. We also determine the optimal value of the noise strength parameter which gives the maximum advantage to that species. Finally, we find that the critical number of individuals, below which the probability of extinction becomes significant, decreases as the noise level increases, thus showing that the addition of a preferred mobility direction studied in the present paper does not favour coexistence.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2020

Performance of weak species in the simplest generalization of the rock-paper-scissors model to four species

We investigate the problem of the predominance and survival of "weak" species in the context of the simplest generalization of the spatial stochastic rock-paper-scissors model to four species by considering models in which one, two, or three species have a reduced predation probability. We show, using lattice based spatial stochastic simulations with random initial conditions, that if only one of the four species has its probability reduced then the most abundant species is the prey of the "weakest" (assuming that the simulations are large enough for coexistence to prevail). Also, among the remaining cases, we present examples in which "weak" and "strong" species have similar average abundances and others in which either of them dominates -- the most abundant species being always a prey of a "weak" species with which it maintains a unidirectional predator-prey interaction. However, in contrast to the three-species model, we find no systematic difference in the global performance of "weak" and "strong" species, and we conjecture that the same result will hold if the number of species is further increased. We also determine the probability of single species survival and coexistence as a function of the lattice size, discussing its dependence on initial conditions and on the change to the dynamics of the model which results from the extinction of one of the species.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2020

Model for clustering of living species

Clusters appear in nature in a diversity of contexts, involving distances as long as the cosmological ones, and down to atoms and molecules and the very small nuclear size. They also appear in several other scenarios, in particular in biological systems as in ants, bees, birds, fishes, gnus and rats, for instance. Here we describe a model composed of a set of female and male individuals that obeys simple rules that rapidly transform an uniform initial state into a single cluster that evolves in time as a stable dynamical structure. We show that the center of mass of the structure moves as a random walk, and that the size of the cluster engenders a power law behavior in terms of the number of individuals in the system. Moreover, we also examine other possibilities, in particular the case of two distinct species that can evolve to form one or two distinct clusters.

q-bio.PE↗