Population dynamics at high Reynolds number

Phys Rev Lett. 2010 Oct 1;105(14):144501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.144501. Epub 2010 Sep 27.

Abstract

We study the statistical properties of population dynamics evolving in a realistic two-dimensional compressible turbulent velocity field. We show that the interplay between turbulent dynamics and population growth and saturation leads to quasilocalization and a remarkable reduction in the carrying capacity. The statistical properties of the population density are investigated and quantified via multifractal scaling analysis. We also investigate numerically the singular limit of negligibly small growth rates and delocalization of population ridges triggered by uniform advection.