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Rock-paper-scissors models with a preferred mobility direction

P. P. Avelino, B. F. de Oliveira, J. V. O. Silva

Abstract
We investigate a modified spatial stochastic Lotka-Volterra formulation of the rock-paper-scissors model using off-lattice stochastic simulations. In this model one of the species moves preferentially in a specific direction - the level of preference being controlled by a noise strength parameter η∈[0,1] (η=0 and η=1 corresponding to total preference and no preference, respectively) - while the other two species have no preferred direction of motion. We study the behaviour of the system starting from random initial conditions, showing that the species with asymmetric mobility has always an advantage over its predator. We also determine the optimal value of the noise strength parameter which gives the maximum advantage to that species. Finally, we find that the critical number of individuals, below which the probability of extinction becomes significant, decreases as the noise level increases, thus showing that the addition of a preferred mobility direction studied in the present letter does not favour coexistence.

Keywords
Quantitative Biology - Populations and Evolution; Physics - Physics and Society

Europhysics Letters
Volume 132, Number 4
2020 December

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Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia COMPETE 2020 PORTUGAL 2020 União Europeia