Power spectra reveal the influence of stochasticity on nonlinear population dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Stochasticity alters the nonlinear dynamics of inherently cycling populations. The power spectrum can describe and explain the impacts of stochasticity. We fitted models to short observed time series of flour beetle populations in the frequency domain, then used a well fitting stochastic mechanistic model to generate detailed predictions of population spectra. Some predicted spectral peaks represent periodic phenomena induced or modified by stochasticity and were experimentally confirmed. For one experimental treatment, linearization theory explained that these peaks represent overcompensatory decay of deviations from deterministic oscillation. In another treatment, stochasticity caused frequent directional phase shifting around a cyclic attractor. This directional phase shifting was not e

SUBMITTER: Reuman DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1693752 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature