Natural selection in spatially structured populations

Abstract

Mathematical models play a fundamental role in theoretical population genetics and, in turn, population genetics provides a wealth of mathematical challenges. Here we illustrate this by using mathematical caricatures of the evolution of genetic types in a spatially distributed population to demonstrate the complex interplay between spatial structure, natural selection, and so-called random genetic drift (the randomness due to reproduction in a finite population). In particular, we highlight the role that the shape of the domain inhabited by the population can play in mediating the interplay between the different forces of evolution acting upon it.