Dynamic stability of a single-species population in a divided and ephemeral environment

Rosewell, Jonathan (1990). Dynamic stability of a single-species population in a divided and ephemeral environment. In: Shorrocks, Bryan and Swingland, Ian R. eds. Living in a patchy environment. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 63–74.

URL: http://www.oup.co.uk

Abstract

This chapter focuses on an example of domestic Drosophila species living on a divided and ephemeral resource and seeks to demonstrate how the spatial organization of a population may serve to reduce population fluctuations on a 'global' scale. Laboratory experiments are described which demonstrate that Drosophila laboratory cultures show population fluctuations. The same experiments provide estimates of the type and strength of density-dependent mortality on a local scale. When these parameter values are put into a local competition model, the predicted and observed dynamic behaviour are in qualitative agreement. A simulation model for a global population of a single species living on a divided and ephemeral resource is presented and a stability analysis of the model performed. Finally, the discussion considers other related work on the effect of patchiness on stability.

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