Optimal diffusion in ecological dynamics with Allee effect in a metapopulation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how diffusion influences ecological survival in metapopulations with the Allee effect, revealing an optimal diffusion rate that maximizes survival probability, supported by numerical, analytical, and experimental evidence.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal microscopic model demonstrating the existence of an optimal diffusion rate for survival, a novel insight in ecological dynamics with empirical backing.

Findings

Optimal diffusion maximizes survival probability.

The optimal diffusion disappears under loose spatial constraints.

Empirical support from engineered bacteria experiments.

Abstract

How diffusion impacts on ecological dynamics under the Allee effect and spatial constraints? That is the question we address. Employing a microscopic minimal model in a metapopulation (without imposing nonlinear birth and death rates) we evince --- both numerically and analitically --- the emergence of an optimal diffusion that maximises the survival probability. Even though, at first such result seems counter-intuitive, it has empirical support from recent experiments with engineered bacteria. Moreover, we show that this optimal diffusion disappears for loose spatial constraints.