Evolutionary Dynamics in Random Environments

Friday, April 3, 2015 - 12:00 to 13:00
Benedum G28
Speaker Information
Kamran Kaveh
University of Minnesota

Abstract or Additional Information

 Spatial structures as a model for variable migration patterns between
   different spatial points in an evolutionary system has been wildly discussed in
   the literature with applications in ecology, epidemiology, social networks and
   cancer evolution. In this talk we address another form of heterogeneity due to
   environment, where the fitness of an individual is determined by the spatial
   environment it resides on. This can resemble spatial distribution of resources
   in a habitat or spatial variation of drug concentration in the case of
   infectious deceases treatment and/or acidic and hypoxic regions inside a
   tumour. We discuss random fitness distributions and investigate the probability
   of success of new mutant (fixation probability) as a function of distribution of
   a quenched random environment in spatially and non-spatially structured
   populations. In the presence of spatial structures, fixation probability depends
   on the functional distribution of fitness values on the spatial structure as
   well as the connectivities of the lattice that population lives on. This can
   lead to localization-delocalization-type transitions.

Research Area