Populations with individual variation in dispersal in heterogeneous environments: dynamics and competition with simply diffusing populations (Q2303918)

The main motivation for this study was to find out how well a population, whose members can switch between slow and high diffusion rates $d_1$ and $d_2$, compete with an ecologically identical population, where all individuals diffuse at the same intermediate speed $d_3$. It turned out that if $d_3<d_1<d_2$, then the semi-trivial equilibrium $(u^*,v^*, 0)$ is unstable, but $(0,0,w^*)$ is stable. However, for $d_1 (\alpha d_1 +\beta d_2)/(\alpha+\beta)<d_3$ $(u^*,v^*,0)$ is stable, and $(0,0,w^*)$ is unstable. In addition, both semi-trivial equilibrium positions change their stability for some values of $d^3$ in the interval $(d_1,(\alpha d_1+\beta d_2)/(\alpha+\beta))$. Thus, the size of the diffusion rate $d_3$ relative to the average diffusion rate $d_1$ and $d_2$, weighted by the switching rates $\alpha$ and $\beta$, seems informative as to which of the populations $(u,v)$ and $w$ has an advantage. In some cases, the authors were able to show the absence of positive (coexistence) equilibrium, which implies competitive exclusion combined with suitable results on the stability of semi-trivial equilibria.