Cyclic dominance and biodiversity in well-mixed populations

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that in well-mixed finite populations, biodiversity can be maintained through cyclic dominance among three strategies, influenced by stochastic effects and population size.

Contribution

It reveals how stochastic dynamics and population discreteness enable coexistence of strategies in well-mixed populations, extending evolutionary game theory insights.

Findings

Biodiversity is possible with three cyclic strategies in finite populations.

A critical population size exists for stable coexistence.

Stochastic effects influence strategy coexistence.

Abstract

Coevolutionary dynamics is investigated in chemical catalysis, biological evolution, social and economic systems. The dynamics of these systems can be analyzed within the unifying framework of evolutionary game theory. In this Letter, we show that even in well-mixed finite populations, where the dynamics is inherently stochastic, biodiversity is possible with three cyclic dominant strategies. We show how the interplay of evolutionary dynamics, discreteness of the population, and the nature of the interactions influences the coexistence of strategies. We calculate a critical population size above which coexistence is likely.