Borile, C, Muñoz, MA, Azaele, S et al. (2 more authors) (2012) Spontaneously broken neutral symmetry in an ecological system. Physical Review Letters, 109 (3). 038102. ISSN 0031-9007
Abstract
Spontaneous symmetry breaking plays a fundamental role in many areas of condensed matter and particle physics. A fundamental problem in ecology is the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for biodiversity and stability. Neutral theory, which makes the simplifying assumption that all individuals (such as trees in a tropical forest)-regardless of the species they belong to-have the same prospect of reproduction, death, etc., yields gross patterns that are in accord with empirical data. We explore the possibility of birth and death rates that depend on the population density of species, treating the dynamics in a species-symmetric manner. We demonstrate that dynamical evolution can lead to a stationary state characterized simultaneously by both biodiversity and spontaneously broken neutral symmetry.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2012, American Physical Society. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mathematics (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 May 2014 10:56 |
Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2018 06:33 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.038102 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.038102 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:78940 |