The elimination of hierarchy in a completely cyclic competition system

Yongming Li, Linrong Dong and Guangcan Yang

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2012, vol. 391, issue 1, 125-131

Abstract: Interactions among competing units are crucial to maintaining biodiversity, and non-hierarchical interactions can promote biodiversity in cyclic competing systems. In the present study, we explore the role of hierarchical interactions, existing ubiquitously in reality, in the co-evolution of a cyclic competing system. In systems composed of cyclic competing species with hierarchy interactions in which one predator species has more than one prey, we find that hierarchy disappears in a rather short evolving time. In the process of co-evolution, a hierarchical competing system tends to transit to a cyclic non-hierarchical competing system described by the rock–paper–scissors game. In other words, the cyclic competing interactions appear to eradicate hierarchy. This conclusion is analyzed by a mean-field approach and is tested by stochastic simulations.

Keywords: Cyclic dominance; Rock–paper–scissors game; Hierarchy; Singularization; Stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:391:y:2012:i:1:p:125-131

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2011.08.019

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