Metapopulation dynamics in a complex habitat: the role of resource aggregation and dispersal strategy

Habitat heterogeneity exists due to the spatial distribution of resources, water, shelter, etc. This variability fragments the habitat in regions, known as patches, which are favorable or not for population growth. This leads to the emergence of a metapopulation structure made of sub-populations that remain connected due to individuals' movements~[1]. We present a general model~[2] to study the role of habitat spatial structure and dispersal strategy in metapopulation dynamics.
The local dynamics is driven by fundamental mechanisms, consisting of a logistic expression plus multiplicative noises that take into account demographic and environmental fluctuations~[3]. Nonlocality is introduced in a general way, considering that individuals dispersal can be diffusive (random) or selective (habitat dependent). Furthermore, the ecological landscape of favorable patches is generated like a {\em L?vy dust},
which allows to build a range of patterns, from dispersed to clustered ones.
As regards the habitat spatial structure, the results show a critical degree of clusterization to preserve the population. The generalization of animal dispersal enables us to show the importance of a mixed strategy, i.e. the combination of
random movement and direct routes between favorable regions. In a general way, our results highlight the interplay between noise and spatial coupling schemes in the asymptotic behavior of the total population size.
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[1] Hanski I., and Ovaskainen O.,
\textit{Nature} \textbf{404}:755--758 (2000)
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[2] Colombo E.H., Anteneodo C., \textit{ArXiv}-1503.08168 (2015)
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[3] Ovaskainen O., Meerson B., \textit{Trends in Ecology \& Evolution} , \textbf{25}(11):643-652 (2010)