Rice Univesrity Logo
    • FAQ
    • Deposit your work
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Faculty & Staff Research
    • Faculty Publications
    • View Item
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Faculty & Staff Research
    • Faculty Publications
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Modular knowledge systems accelerate human migration in asymmetric random environments

    Thumbnail
    Name:
    migration-1.pdf
    Size:
    321.4Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open
    Author
    Wang, Dong; Deem, Michael W.
    Date
    2016
    Abstract
    Migration is a key mechanism for expansion of communities. In spatially heterogeneous environments, rapidly gaining knowledge about the local environment is key to the evolutionary success of a migrating population. For historical human migration, environmental heterogeneity was naturally asymmetric in the northヨsouth (NS) and eastヨwest (EW) directions. We here consider the human migration process in the Americas, modelled as random, asymmetric, modularly correlated environments. Knowledge about the environments determines the fitness of each individual. We present a phase diagram for asymmetry of migration as a function of carrying capacity and fitness threshold. We find that the speed of migration is proportional to the inverse complement of the spatial environmental gradient, and in particular, we find that NS migration rates are lower than EW migration rates when the environmental gradient is higher in the NS direction. Communication of knowledge between individuals can help to spread beneficial knowledge within the population. The speed of migration increases when communication transmits pieces of knowledge that contribute in a modular way to the fitness of individuals. The results for the dependence of migration rate on asymmetry and modularity are consistent with existing archaeological observations. The results for asymmetry of genetic divergence are consistent with patterns of human gene flow.
    Description
    NEWS COVERAGE: A news release based on this journal publication is available online: http://news.rice.edu/2016/12/08/study-modularity-affects-human-single-celled-migration/
    Citation
    Wang, Dong and Deem, Michael W.. "Modular knowledge systems accelerate human migration in asymmetric random environments." Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 13, no. 125 (2016) The Royal Society: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0778.
    Published Version
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0778
    Keyword
    modularity; human migration; asymmetry; Americas
    Type
    Journal article
    Publisher
    The Royal Society
    Citable link to this page
    https://hdl.handle.net/1911/93740
    Rights
    Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Collections
    • Bioengineering Publications [632]
    • Faculty Publications [4990]
    • Physics and Astronomy Publications [1771]

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map

     

    Searching scope

    Browse

    Entire ArchiveCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map