Parameter variability can produce heavy tails in a model for the spatial distribution of settling organisms

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gordillo, Luis F., Greenwood, Priscilla E.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Gordillo, Luis F.
Greenwood, Priscilla E.
author_facet Gordillo, Luis F.
Greenwood, Priscilla E.
contents We show that a simple mechanistic model of spatial dispersal for settling organisms, subject to parameter variability, can generate heavy-tailed radial probability density functions. The movement of organisms in the model consists of a two-dimensional diffusion that ceases after a random time, where the parameters that characterize each of these stages have been randomized. Our findings show that these minimal assumptions can yield heavy-tailed dispersal patterns, providing a simplified framework that increases the understanding of long-distance dispersal events in movement ecology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_16385
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Parameter variability can produce heavy tails in a model for the spatial distribution of settling organisms
Gordillo, Luis F.
Greenwood, Priscilla E.
Populations and Evolution
Applications
We show that a simple mechanistic model of spatial dispersal for settling organisms, subject to parameter variability, can generate heavy-tailed radial probability density functions. The movement of organisms in the model consists of a two-dimensional diffusion that ceases after a random time, where the parameters that characterize each of these stages have been randomized. Our findings show that these minimal assumptions can yield heavy-tailed dispersal patterns, providing a simplified framework that increases the understanding of long-distance dispersal events in movement ecology.
title Parameter variability can produce heavy tails in a model for the spatial distribution of settling organisms
topic Populations and Evolution
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.16385