https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050626
Deterministic group selection model for the evolution of altruism
Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa
Postal 369, 13560-970 São Carlos SP, Brazil
Received:
22
May
1998
Accepted:
18
August
1998
Published online: 15 February 1999
We study the evolution of an infinite population of asexually reproducing individuals, each of which can be either altruist or non-altruist, subdivided into reproductively isolated groups (demes) of finite size under the action of two opposed selective pressures, namely, differential individual reproduction and differential deme extinction. We derive a recursion equation for the deterministic, discrete time evolution of the frequencies of the different types of demes, classified according to the number of altruistic individuals they have. We give emphasis to the detrimental effects of mutation and migration on the stability of the altruistic demes, which are the only stable demes in the absence of these processes. Furthermore, we draw an analogy between the proposed deterministic group selection model and the quasispecies model for molecular evolution.
PACS: 87.10.+e – General, theoretical, and mathematical biophysics (including logic of biosystems, quantum biology, and relevant aspects of thermodynamics, information theory, cybernetics, and bionics) / 87.90.+y – Other topics in biophysics and medical physics / 89.90.+n – Other areas of general interest to physicists
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1999
