Link to the article: Local dispersal promotes biodiversity in a real-life game of rock–paper–scissors

The study "Local dispersal promotes biodiversity in a real-life game of rock–paper–scissors" by Kerr et al. (2002) investigates how spatial dispersal patterns affect species coexistence using a model system of three Escherichia coli populations exhibiting non-transitive competitive interactions, analogous to the rock-paper-scissors game.

In this system:

• Colicinogenic cell strain produces a toxin (colicin) that kills the second strain.
• Sensitive cell strain outcompetes the third strain due to faster growth.
• Resistant cell strain is resistant to the toxin and can outcompete the toxin producer.

The researchers conducted experiments to compare the effects of local versus global dispersal on biodiversity.

As confirmed also by our simulations, they found that:

1. When interactions and dispersal were localized, all three strains coexisted stably.
2. In contrast, with global dispersal, diversity was rapidly lost, leading to the dominance of a single strain.

These findings demonstrate that local dispersal mechanisms can promote and maintain biodiversity in communities with cyclic competitive relationships.

This simulation is done as a part of Bilkent University PHYS479 Complex Adaptive Dynamic Systems course.