外来的捕食物种对濒危物种的影响

In this paper, an important problem arising from conservation biology is considered. Namely, how does the introduced species affect the survival of a native endangered species through predation? By using Kamke comparison theorem and some results in Cui and Chen‘s paper (1998), some sufficient conditions that guarantee the permanence of the species and global stability of a unique positive periodic solution are obtained. Biological implication of these results are discussed.     

DYNAMICS OF A NONLINEAR NON-AUTONOMOUS n-PATCHES PREDATOR-PREY DISPERSION-DELAY MODEL

In this paper,a nonlinear nonautonomous predator-prey dispersion model with continuous distributed delay is studied,where all parameters are time-dependent.In this system consisting of n-patches the prey species can disperse among n-patches,but the predator species is confined to one patch and cannot disperse.It is proved that the system is uniformly persistent under any dispersion rate effect.Furthermore,some sufficient conditions are established for the existence of a unique almost periodic solution of the system.The example shows that the criteria in the paper are new,general and easily verifiable.     

ESTIMATION FOR THE ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOR OF THE DELAYED COMPETITION MODEL

In ecological dynamic systems, the competition between species is a very universal phenomenon, which can be described by the well-known Volterra-Lotka model in a diffusion form. Noticing that the living space usually changes in a seasonal manner and the population development of the species may also undergo time-delay im- pact, a developed form of this model is investigated in this article. The main approaches employed here are the upper-lower solution method and the energy-estimate technique. The results show that whether the species may sustain survival or not depends on the relations among the birth rate, the death rate, the competition rate, the diffusivity and the time delay. For the survival case, the population evolutions of the two species may appear asymptotic periodicity with distinct upper bound and this bound depends heavily on the time delay. These results can be also checked by the intuitionistic numerical simulations.     

Analysis of a Prey-predator Model with Disease in Prey

In this paper, a system of reaction-diffusion equations arising in ecoepidemiological systems is investigated. The equations model a situation in which a predator species and a prey species inhabit the same bounded region and the predator only eats the prey with transmissible diseases. Local stability of the constant positive solution is considered. A number of existence and non-existence results about the nonconstant steady states of a reaction diffusion system are given. It is proved that if the diffusion coefficient of the prey with disease is treated as a bifurcation parameter, non-constant positive steady-state solutions may bifurcate from the constant steadystate solution under some conditions.     

PERMANENCE IN A SINGLE SPECIES NON-AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM WITH PURE-DELAY AND FEEDBACK CONTROL

In this paper, we consider a single species non-autonomous system with pure-delay and feedback control. Sufficient conditions of integrable form for the permanence of species are established.     

Comparison Results for a Kind of Impulsive Parabolic Equations with Application to Population Dynamics

In this paper,for a semi-linear parabolic partial differential equations with impulsive effects,theexistence-comparison theorem and comparison principles are established using the method of upper and lowersolutions.These results are applied to obtain the stability results of the steady-state solutions in a reaction-diffusion equations modelling two competing species with instantaneous stocking.     

Small-time sampling behavior of a Fleming-Viot process

The Fleming-Viot process with parent-independent mutation process is one particular neutral population genetic model.As time goes by,some initial species are replaced by mutated ones gradually.Once the population mutation rate is high,mutated species will elbow out all the initial species very quickly.Small-time behavior in this case seems to be the key to understand this fast transition.The small-time asymptotic results related to time scale t/θ and a(θ)t,where lim_θ→∞~(θa(θ))=0,are obtained by Dawson and Shui(1998,2001),Shui and Xiong(2002),and Xiang and Zhang(2005),respectively.Only the behavior under the scale t(θ),where lim_θ→∞~(t(θ))=0 and lim_θ→∞~(θt(θ))=∞,was left untouched.In this paper,the weak limits under various small-time scales are obtained.Of particular interest is the large deviations for the small-time transient sampling distributions,which reveal interesting phase transition.Interestingly,such a phase transition is uniquely determined by some species diversity indices.     

PERMANENCE OF A DISCRETE SINGLE SPECIES SYSTEM WITH DELAYS AND FEEDBACK CONTROL

In this paper,a discrete single species system with time delays and feedback control is considered.Sufficient conditions which guarantee the permanence of all positive solutions to this discrete system are obtained.The results show that the feedback control is harmless for the permanence of the species.     

Global positive periodic solutions of age-dependent competing systems

This paper is to investigate positive periodic solutions of a biological system composed of two competing species. The existence and uniqueness of nonnegative solutions to the model for a set of given vital rates and initial distribution are treated and the contractive property of the solutions explored. Based on these results, some simple conditions for the global existence of positive periodic orbits are established by means of Horn’s asymptotic fixed point theorem.     

THE BIFURCATION ANALYSIS OF EXISTENCE AND TABILITY OF POSITIVE STEADY-STATE SOLUTION FOR A ONE-PREDATOR-TWO-PREY SYSTEM

This paper discusses the existence and stability of steady-states for a three-dimensional system ef parabolic partial differential equations subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions, i.e. the situation in which a predator feeds on twoprey species. Resultts are obtained by the use of spectral analysis and bifurcation theory.     

Mathematical models of restoration and control of a single species with Allee effect

According to the initial density of a single species with Allee effect and corresponding management strategy, three kinds of mathematical models are presented to describe the evolutionary process of the species by impulsive differential equations. When the initial density of the species is larger than economic injury level (EIL) (or economical threshold, ET), impulsive harvest control is considered in a finite time to decrease the population of the species. The feasibility of the impulsive harvest control in a finite time is given by the existence of solution of the model with initial and boundary value problem. When the initial density of the species is less than EIL (or ET), the model with state feedback control is formulated according to the state of the species. The existence and stability of periodic solution of the model with state feedback control are discussed. When the initial density of the species is less than the Allee threshold and the species tends to extinction, the model with impulsive release at fixed moments is presented to study the restoration of the species. The conditions for the feasibility of periodic restoration of the species are given. Finally, some discussions are given.     

MARINE RESERVES AS A MEASURE TO CONTROL BYCATCH PROBLEMS: THE IMPORTANCE OF MULTISPECIES INTERACTIONS

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the effects of using marine reserves as a measure to control bycatch that is of no commercial value, under different assumptions regarding the ecological interactions between targeted species and that taken as bycatch. Three cases are examined: (1) no ecological interactions between the two species, (2) targeted and bycatch species exist in a predator‐prey relationship and (3) species compete. Targeted species is assumed to consist of two sub‐populations that are discretely distributed in space, but linked through density dependent migration while bycatch species is assumed to consist of one uniformly distributed stock only. In each case the equilibrium stock levels of targeted and by‐catch species, effort and harvest are numerically calculated and compared, assuming pure open access and open access in combination with a reserve. It is of special interest to identify circumstances that allows for a win‐win situation, that is, both harvest of the targeted species and biomass of the bycatch species increase. It is shown that the ecological interactions between the two species influence the possibility of actually protecting the bycatch species through the use of a reserve, the possibility a win‐win situation, and the issue of what patch to close.     

FROM HARVESTING TO NONHARVESTING UTILITY: AN OPTIMAL CONTROL APPROACH TO SPECIES CONSERVATION

The purpose of this paper is to retrace the evolution of mathematical models focused on relation and interaction between economic growth, sustainable development, and natural environment conservation. First, generic defensive expenditures are introduced into a common‐property harvesting model in order to favor the species growth. Second, a transition model comprising both harvesting and nonharvesting values of wildlife biological species emerges. The latter gives rise to a group of purely nonharvesting models where anthropic activities and economic growth may have positive or negative impact on the natural evolution of wildlife species. Several scholars have proved that optimal strategies that are relatively good for harvesting purposes are not simply “transferrable” to the context of conservation of wildlife biological species with no harvesting value. In addition, the existence of optimal policies for long‐term conservation of all biological species (with or without harvesting value) cannot be guaranteed without having relatively large species populations at the initial time. Therefore, all such strategies are incapable of enhancing the scarce populations of endangered species and, therefore, cannot save these species from eventual (local) extinction. As an alternative, policymakers may soon be compelled to design and implement short‐term defensive actions aimed at recovery and enhancement of endangered wildlife species.     

OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF INVASIVE SPECIES WITH DIFFERENT REPRODUCTION AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

Abstract In this paper, a numerical model is developed for analyzing the role of species life history and age structure for the optimal management of a commercial resident species that is exposed to an invasive species. It is shown that reproduction and mortality characteristics of both species ands age structure of the invader at the time of invasion are important for the costs of invasions when the invader and resident species compete for scarce resources. Commercially harvested species with low juvenile survival and high reproduction are found to be economically more robust against invasions. Species with these life‐history traits are also the most damaging as invaders. Properties of the harvesting cost function and the discount rate are shown to be of importance for the development of the invader population over time. Hence, it is possible to identify specific combinations of life‐history characteristics and economic conditions under which invasions cause particularly large economic damage.     

Competitive exclusion in a discrete juvenile–adult model with continuous and seasonal reproduction

We develop a general discrete juvenile–adult population model that describes two competing species. We consider species in which the juveniles only compete with other juveniles, and the adults only compete with other adults, i.e. juveniles and adults of either species do not compete. This is typical of amphibians where juveniles (tadpoles) live in water and adults (frogs) live on land. Assuming competition efficiencies of the two species are similar, we analyse the cases where reproduction is either continuous or seasonal. In both cases, we develop conditions on the invasion net reproductive numbers of the two species that will lead to competitive exclusion. We show using numerical simulations that coexistence and bistability are possible outcomes when competition efficiencies of the two species are different.     

Vague Kinds and Biological Nominalism

Among biological kinds, the most important are species. But species, however defined, have vague boundaries, both synchronically owing to hybridization and ongoing speciation, and diachronically owing to genetic drift and genealogical continuity despite speciation. It is argued that the solution to the problems of species and their vague boundaries is to adopt a thoroughgoing nominalism in regard to all biological taxa, from species to domains. The base entities are individual organisms: populations of these compose species and higher taxa. This accommodates all the important biological facts while avoiding the legacy problems of pre-evolutionary typological taxonomy, which saw species and other taxa as prior to their members. Species are however not individuals: they are spatiotemporally bounded collections, which are plural particulars.     

Almost sufficient and necessary conditions for permanence and extinction of nonautonomous discrete logistic systems with time-varying delays and feedback control

A class of nonautonomous discrete logistic single-species systems with time-varying pure-delays and feedback control is studied. By introducing a new research method, almost sufficient and necessary conditions for the permanence and extinction of species are obtained. Particularly, when the system degenerates into a periodic system, sufficient and necessary conditions on the permanence and extinction of species are obtained. Moreover, a very important fact is found in our results, that is, the feedback control and delays are harmless for the permanence and extinction of species for discrete single-species systems. This shows that in a discrete single-species system introducing the feedback control to factitiously control the permanence and extinction of species is useless.     

Admissibility of estimators of the probability of unobserved outcomes

The problem of estimating the probability of unobserved outcomes or, as it is sometimes called, the conditional probability of a new species, is studied. Good's estimator, which is essentially the same as Robbins' estimator, namely the number of singleton species observed divided by the sample size, is studied from a decision theory point of view. The results obtained are as follows: (1) When the total number of different species is assumed bounded by some known number, Good's and Robbins' estimators are inadmissible for squared error loss. (2) If the number of different species can be infinite, Good's and Robbins' estimators are admissible for squared error loss. (3) Whereas Robbins' estimator is a UMVUE for theunconditional probability of a new species obtained in one extra sample point, Robbins' estimator is not a uniformly minimum mean squared error unbiased estimator of the conditional probability of a new species. This answers a question raised by Robbins. (4) It is shown that for Robbins' model and squared error loss, there are admissible Bayes estimators which do not depend only on a minimal sufficient statistic. A discussion of interpretations and significance of the results is offered. Research supported by NSF Grant DMS-88-22622.     

A Kolmogorov-type competition model with multiple coexistence states and its applications to plant competition for sunlight

It is demonstrated that a Kolmogorov-type competition model featuring species allocation and gain functions can possess multiple coexistence states. Two examples are constructed: one in which the two competing species possess rectangular allocation functions but distinct gain functions, and the other in which one species has a rectangular allocation function, the second species has a bi-rectangular allocation function, and the two species share a common gain function. In both examples, it is shown that the species nullclines may intersect multiple times within the interior of the first quadrant, thus creating both locally stable and unstable equilibrium points. These results have important applications in the study of plant competition for sunlight, in which the allocation functions describe the vertical placement of leaves for two competing species, and the gain functions represent rates of photosynthesis performed by leaves at different heights when shaded by overlying leaves belonging to either species.     

Stability and travelling waves for a time-delayed population system with stage structure

We study a time-delayed population system with stage structure for the interaction between two species, the adult members of which are in competition. For each of the two species the model incorporates a time delay which represents the time from birth to maturity of that species. The global stability results are established for each equilibrium. The criteria for global convergence to each equilibrium are sharp and involve these delays. By using lower and upper travelling wave solutions, we show that the model has travelling wave solutions that connect the origin and the coexistence equilibrium with speeds greater than the spreading speed of each species in the absence of its rival.