Diffusion-induced extinction of a superior species in a competition system (Q1128283)

The authors consider a system of two reaction diffusion equations with equal diffusion coefficients and Kolmogorov type reaction terms of competition type under no flux boundary conditions. They consider the case of bistability, i.e., the spatially homogeneous competition equations have two stable axes equilibria and an unstable positive saddle with a separatrix that is concave. The main result is that diffusion can reverse the competitive outcome. Specifically, an initial condition that results in one species competitively eliminating the other in the absence of diffusion can, in the presence of diffusion, result in the opposite competitive outcome. The theorem is proved using comparison methods.