Category: Ecology

Summary: Testing whether an intermediate phase lag between reserve subnetworks best preserves persistence under periodic disturbance shocks.

Marine reserves can protect source populations, but periodic disturbances can still synchronize vulnerability across space. This experiment asks whether offsetting the closure cycles of two reserve subnetworks by an intermediate phase lag leaves one source protected during recolonization and therefore improves persistence.

The model applies repeated shock pulses and periodic reserve closures, then varies the phase difference between the subnetworks. It compares persistence outcomes to see whether fully synchronized and fully opposed timing both underperform a middle regime.

That focuses on temporal coordination rather than reserve size alone. The experiment tests whether desynchronization can act as a rescue mechanism by avoiding a shared vulnerable recovery window.

Method: Repeated reserve-network persistence simulations with periodic shocks and sweeps over the phase lag between reserve closure schedules.

What is measured: Persistence probability, recolonization support, dependence on reserve phase lag, shock-period interaction, and support for an interior optimum.