Category: Pop. Genetics

Summary: Testing whether moderately persistent migration corridors best delay Muller's ratchet in a ring metapopulation.

Migration can rescue local populations from mutational deterioration, but the timing and persistence of migration pathways may matter as much as their average strength. This experiment asks whether pulsed corridors that remain open for an intermediate duration slow Muller's ratchet more effectively than either rapidly changing or nearly static corridors.

The script simulates a ring metapopulation and varies corridor persistence while tracking whether temporary connections rescue depleted demes without forcing the whole system into synchronized collapse. The proposed mechanism is a balance between local relief and excessive coupling.

That turns a standard mutational-load problem into a transport-timing problem. The project is designed to identify whether there is a corridor-memory window that optimally delays ratchet clicks.

Method: Stochastic Muller's-ratchet simulations on a ring metapopulation with pulsed migration corridors of varying persistence.

What is measured: Ratchet-click timing, dependence on corridor persistence, rescue of depleted demes, and evidence for an intermediate optimum.