As a default we considered patchy environments with multiple resource types in each patch (mixed patches) and with a low but reasonable rate of environmental change : a random 5 resource types per year were replaced with a new kind of resource type with a randomly assigned resource quality Q r. We did not vary parameters that defined life-history characteristics and spatio-temporal scaling as this is beyond the scope of study. In sum, while the analysis contained a large number of parameters, the vast majority of these provide a realistic simulation context, and the parameter space for the remaining few was explored within realistic bounds .