The effect of dispersal area on the extinction threshold

The survival of populations hinges on their ability to offset local extinctions through new colonizations. The dispersal area ($A$) plays a crucial role in this process, as it determines the probability of finding colonizable vacant sites. We investigated the spatial colonization-extinction dynamics in a lattice model (a contact process), exploring various finite dispersal areas and estimating the extinction threshold $\lambda_E(A)$. Our results revealed a consistent $\lambda_E(A)$ relationship, largely independent of lattice geometry (except for the smallest $A$). This $\lambda_E(A)$ relationship obeyed universal scaling laws within two broad ranges of $A$. The scaling relations suggest considerable selection upon the increase of dispersal area, particularly at low $A$ values. We discuss these findings in the broader context of the evolution of dispersal area.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Ecological Modelling

• Publication date

  2025-12-27

• Fields of study

  Biology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2025.111461arXiv 2512.22506
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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