Success, failure, and spreading speeds for invasions on spatial gradients (Q2512933)

The authors study an integro-difference equation model that describes the spread of an invading species on a resource gradient that increases along an axis. Using rigorous mathematical analysis to investigate the spreading dynamics of the model, it is demonstrated that the species' linearized growth rates at zero density and the dispersal kernel jointly determine the spreading properties of the model. The results show that, depending on the properties of the species growth and dispersal, the species can succeed or fail in invasion, and if it succeeds, the rightward and leftward spreading speeds of invasion can be determined. Building on this work, continued research on invasion dynamics on resource gradients is warranted from a biological perspective, because real landscapes are spatially heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity may take the form of gradients rather than patches.