| Abstract: |
| Recently we employed a discrete-diffusion modeling framework to examine a system inspired by the nano-ecology experiments on the bacterium \textit{Escherichia coli} reported upon in a 2006 paper of Keymer et al. In these experiments, the bacteria inhabit a linear array of 85 microhabitat patches (MHP's), linked by comparatively thinner corridors through which bacteria may pass between adjacent MHP's. Nutrients flow into each of the patch substrates at different rates. In the absence of bacteria dispersal, patches where the substrate nutrient flow rate is sufficiently high may be regarded as population sources, while those with insufficient substrate flow may be regarded as population sinks. We discuss the role of dispersal in determining the predictions of the model under source-sink dynamics. We will also discuss some remaining questions. |
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