Some "counterintuitive" results in two species competition

TL;DR

This paper reveals unexpected dynamics in classical two-species competition models, showing that traditional intuitions about competitive exclusion and winning strategies may not always apply, supported by analytical and numerical evidence.

Contribution

It demonstrates that classical theories do not always hold in two-species competition models, revealing counterintuitive outcomes and providing analytical and numerical verification.

Findings

Weaker competitors can avoid extinction.

Slower diffusers may outperform faster ones.

Classical intuitions about competition are challenged.

Abstract

We investigate the classical two species ODE and PDE Lotka-Volterra competition models, where one of the competitors could potentially go extinct in finite time. We show that in this setting, classical theories and intuitions do not hold, and various counter intuitive dynamics are possible. In particular, the weaker competitor could avoid competitive exclusion, and the slower diffuser may not win. Numerical simulations are performed to verify our analytical findings.