Stationary solutions for metapopulation Moran models with mutation and selection

We construct an individual-based metapopulation model of population genetics featuring migration, mutation, selection, and genetic drift. In the case of a single "island," the model reduces to the Moran model. Using the diffusion approximation and time-scale separation arguments, an effective one-variable description of the model is developed. The effective description bears similarities to the well-mixed Moran model with effective parameters that depend on the network structure and island sizes, and it is amenable to analysis. Predictions from the reduced theory match the results from stochastic simulations across a range of parameters. The nature of the fast-variable elimination technique we adopt is further studied by applying it to a linear system, where it provides a precise description of the slow dynamics in the limit of large time-scale separation.