Species' borders and dispersal barriers

Range limits of species are determined by combined effects of physical, historical, ecological, and evolutionary forces. We consider a subset of these factors by using spatial models of competition, hybridization, and local adaptation to examine the effects of partial dispersal barriers on the locations of borders between similar species. Prompted by results from population genetic models and biogeographic observations, we investigate the conditions under which species' borders are attracted to regions of reduced dispersal. For borders maintained by competition or hybridization, we find that dispersal barriers can attract borders whose positions would otherwise be either neutrally stable or moving across space. Borders affected strongly by local adaptation and gene flow, however, are repelled from dispersal barriers. These models illustrate how particular biotic and abiotic factors may combine to limit species' ranges, and they help to elucidate mechanisms by which range limits of many species may coincide.