Dynamics of Lotka–Volterra Competition Patch Models in Streams with Two Branches

Streams may have many branches and form complex river networks. We investigate two competition patch models associated with two different river network modules, where one is a distributary stream with two branches at the downstream end, and the other is a tributary stream with two branches at the upstream end. Treating one species as resident species and the other one as mutant species, it is shown that, for each model, there exists a invasion curve such that the mutant species can invade when rare if and only if its dispersal strategy is below this curve, but the shapes of the invasion curves are different. Moreover, we show that the global dynamics of the two models can be similar or different depending on river networks. Especially, if the drift rates of the two species are equal, then the global dynamics are similar for small drift rate and different for large drift rate. Our results also confirm a conjecture in Jiang et al. (Bull Math Biol 82:131, 2020).