Clustering of organisms can be a consequence of social behaviour, or of the
response of individuals to chemical and physical cues(1). Environmental va
riability can also cause clustering: for example, marine turbulence transpo
rts plankton(2-8) and produces chlorophyll concentration patterns in the up
per ocean(9-11). Even in a homogeneous environment, nonlinear interactions
between species(12-14) can result in spontaneous pattern formation. Here we
show that a population of independent, random-walking organisms ('brownian
bugs'), reproducing by binary division and dying at constant rates, sponta
neously aggregates. Using an individual-based model, we show that clusters
form out of spatially homogeneous initial conditions without environmental
variability, predator-prey interactions, kinesis or taxis. The clustering m
echanism is reproductively driven-birth must always be adjacent to a living
organism. This clustering can overwhelm diffusion and create non-poissonia
n correlations between pairs (parent and offspring) or organisms, leading t
o the emergence of patterns.