Evolutionary dynamics on graphs

Erez Lieberman (), Christoph Hauert and Martin A. Nowak
Additional contact information
Erez Lieberman: Harvard University
Christoph Hauert: Harvard University
Martin A. Nowak: Harvard University

Nature, 2005, vol. 433, issue 7023, 312-316

Abstract: Abstract Evolutionary dynamics have been traditionally studied in the context of homogeneous or spatially extended populations1,2,3,4. Here we generalize population structure by arranging individuals on a graph. Each vertex represents an individual. The weighted edges denote reproductive rates which govern how often individuals place offspring into adjacent vertices. The homogeneous population, described by the Moran process3, is the special case of a fully connected graph with evenly weighted edges. Spatial structures are described by graphs where vertices are connected with their nearest neighbours. We also explore evolution on random and scale-free networks5,6,7. We determine the fixation probability of mutants, and characterize those graphs for which fixation behaviour is identical to that of a homogeneous population7. Furthermore, some graphs act as suppressors and others as amplifiers of selection. It is even possible to find graphs that guarantee the fixation of any advantageous mutant. We also study frequency-dependent selection and show that the outcome of evolutionary games can depend entirely on the structure of the underlying graph. Evolutionary graph theory has many fascinating applications ranging from ecology to multi-cellular organization and economics.

Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (132)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03204 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:433:y:2005:i:7023:d:10.1038_nature03204

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature03204

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().