A MODEL OF PHENOTYPIC DIVERSITY OF POPULATION IN THE RANDOM ENVIRONMENT

Simulation of phenotypic diversity in a model population under randomly changing environment shows that: 1) there is an optimal (according to maximization of population number) level of offspring phenotypic diversity; 2) as environmental instability increases, the optimal level of phenotypic diversity also increases, while the maximum number of individuals able to exist in the given environment decreases; 3) population is capable to compensate increase of environmental instability by high rate of reproduction, by reducing mortality coefficient, and by increasing phenotypic diversity of the offspring.