Phase transitions in biology: from bird flocks to population dynamics

Author:

Heffern Elleard F. W.1,Huelskamp Holly1,Bahar Sonya2ORCID,Inglis R. Fredrik1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Biology, University of Missouri at St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA

2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri at St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA

Abstract

Phase transitions are an important and extensively studied concept in physics. The insights derived from understanding phase transitions in physics have recently and successfully been applied to a number of different phenomena in biological systems. Here, we provide a brief review of phase transitions and their role in explaining biological processes ranging from collective behaviour in animal flocks to neuronal firing. We also highlight a new and exciting area where phase transition theory is particularly applicable: population collapse and extinction. We discuss how phase transition theory can give insight into a range of extinction events such as population decline due to climate change or microbial responses to stressors such as antibiotic treatment.

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine

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