Abstract
Spatial segregation among life-cycle stages has been observed in many stage-structured species, including species of the flour beetle Tribolium. We investigate density-dependent dispersal of life-cycle stages as a possible mechanism responsible for this separation. We explore this hypothesis using stage-structured, integrodifference equation (IDE) models that incorporate density-dependent dispersal kernels. We first investigate mechanisms that can lead to spatial patterns in juvenile-adult IDE models. We show, via numerical simulation, that density-dependent dispersal can lead to the spatial segregation of life-cycle stages in the sense that each stage peaks in a different spatial location. We then construct a three-stage spatial model to describe the population dynamics of Tribolium castaneum and Tribolium confusum and assess density-dependent dispersal mechanisms that are able to explain spatial patterns that have been experimentally observed in these species.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 398-409 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of biological dynamics |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2011 |
Keywords
- Density-dependent dispersal
- Integrodifference equations
- Population dynamics
- Segregation of life-cycle stages
- Spatial patterns
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Ecology