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The Evolutionary Dynamics of Aposematism: a Numerical Analysisof Co-Evolution in Finite Populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2014

J. Teichmann ,
M. Broom  and
E. Alonso
J. Teichmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Science, City University London Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
M. Broom
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Science, City University London Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
E. Alonso
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, City University London Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
*
⋆Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The majority of species are under predatory risk in their natural habitat and targeted bypredators as part of the food web. During the evolution of ecosystems, manifold mechanismshave emerged to avoid predation. So called secondary defences, which are used after apredator has initiated prey-catching behaviour, commonly involve the expression of toxinsor deterrent substances which are not observable by the predator. Hence, the possession ofsuch secondary defence in many prey species comes with a specific signal of that defence(aposematism). This paper builds on the ideas of existing models of such signallingbehaviour, using a model of co-evolution and generalisation of aversive information andintroduces a new methodology of numerical analysis for finite populations. This newmethodology significantly improves the accessibility of previous models.

In finite populations, investigating the co-evolution of defence and signalling requiresan understanding of natural selection as well as an assessment of the effects of drift asan additional force acting on stability. The new methodology is able to reproduce thepredicted solutions of preceding models and finds additional solutions involving negativecorrelation between signal strength and the extent of secondary defence. In addition,genetic drift extends the range of stable aposematic solutions through the introduction ofa new pseudo-stability and gives new insights into the diversification of aposematicdisplays.

Keywords

predator-prey, co-evolutiondriftfinite populationadaptive dynamics
Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena , Volume 9 , Issue 3: Biological evolution , 2014 , pp. 148 - 164
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2014

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