Competitive spatially distributed population dynamics models: Does diversity in diffusion strategies promote coexistence?

We study the interaction between different types of dispersal, intrinsic growth rates and carrying capacities of two competing species in a heterogeneous environment; one of them is subject to a regular diffusion while the other moves in the direction of most per capita available resources. If spatially heterogeneous carrying capacities coincide, and intrinsic growth rates are proportional then competitive exclusion of a regularly diffusing population is inevitable. However, the situation may change if intrinsic growth rates for the two populations have different spatial forms. We also consider the case when carrying capacities are different. If the carrying capacity of a regularly diffusing population is higher than for the other species, the two populations may coexist; as the difference between the two carrying capacities grows, competitive exclusion of the species with a lower carrying capacity occurs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.