Implications of spraying pesticides to control insects. http://bit.ly/diYPED

Implications of spraying pesticides to control insects. http://bit.ly/diYPED

This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
A collaborative class project with each participant creating an animal/plant sub-model​ to explore the greater population/community dynamics of the Yellowstone ecosystem.
A collaborative class project with each participant creating an animal/plant sub-model​ to explore the greater population/community dynamics of the Yellowstone ecosystem.
    Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")  Tags:  Education ,  Chaos ,  Ecology ,  Biology ,  Population   Thanks to Insight Author:  John Petersen       Edits by Andy Long     Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model).

Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")
Thanks to Insight Author: John Petersen

Edits by Andy Long

Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model). I just wanted to make a few comments.

We are looking at Hare and Lynx, of course. Clone this insight, and change the names.

Then read the text below, to get acquainted with one of the most important and well-known examples of a simple system of differential equations in all of mathematics.

http://www.nku.edu/~longa/classes/mat375/mathematica/Lotka-Volterra.nb
------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamic simulation modelers are particularly interested in understanding and being able to distinguish between the behavior of stocks and flows that result from internal interactions and those that result from external forces acting on a system. 

For some time modelers have been particularly interested in internal interactions that result in stable oscillations in the absence of any external forces acting on a system. 

The model in this last scenario was independently developed by Alfred Lotka (1924) and Vito Volterra (1926).  Lotka was interested in understanding internal dynamics that might explain oscillations in moth and butterfly populations and the parasitoids that attack them.  Volterra was interested in explaining an increase in coastal populations of predatory fish and a decrease in their prey that was observed during World War I when human fishing pressures on the predator species declined. 

Both discovered that a relatively simple model is capable of producing the cyclical behaviors they observed. 

Since that time, several researchers have been able to reproduce the modeling dynamics in simple experimental systems consisting of only predators and prey.  It is now generally recognized that the model world that Lotka and Volterra produced is too simple to explain the complexity of most predator-prey dynamics in nature.  And yet, the model significantly advanced our understanding of the critical role of feedback in predator-prey interactions and in feeding relationships that result in community dynamics.

The Lotka–Volterra model makes a number of assumptions about the environment and evolution of the predator and prey populations:

1. The prey population finds ample food at all times.
2. The food supply of the predator population depends entirely on the size of the prey population.
3. The rate of change of population is proportional to its size.
4. During the process, the environment does not change in favour of one species and genetic adaptation is inconsequential.
5. Predators have limitless appetite.

As differential equations are used, the solution is deterministic and continuous. This, in turn, implies that the generations of both the predator and prey are continually overlapping.[23]

Prey
When multiplied out, the prey equation becomes
dx/dtαx - βxy
 The prey are assumed to have an unlimited food supply, and to reproduce exponentially unless subject to predation; this exponential growth is represented in the equation above by the term αx. The rate of predation upon the prey is assumed to be proportional to the rate at which the predators and the prey meet; this is represented above by βxy. If either x or y is zero then there can be no predation.

With these two terms the equation above can be interpreted as: the change in the prey's numbers is given by its own growth minus the rate at which it is preyed upon.

Predators

The predator equation becomes

dy/dt =  - 

In this equation, {\displaystyle \displaystyle \delta xy} represents the growth of the predator population. (Note the similarity to the predation rate; however, a different constant is used as the rate at which the predator population grows is not necessarily equal to the rate at which it consumes the prey). {\displaystyle \displaystyle \gamma y} represents the loss rate of the predators due to either natural death or emigration; it leads to an exponential decay in the absence of prey.

Hence the equation expresses the change in the predator population as growth fueled by the food supply, minus natural death.


  ​Predator-prey
models are the building masses of the bio-and environments as bio
masses are become out of their asset masses. Species contend, advance and
scatter essentially to look for assets to support their battle for their very
presence. Contingent upon their particular settings of uses, they

​Predator-prey models are the building masses of the bio-and environments as bio masses are become out of their asset masses. Species contend, advance and scatter essentially to look for assets to support their battle for their very presence. Contingent upon their particular settings of uses, they can take the types of asset resource-consumer, plant-herbivore, parasite-have, tumor cells- immune structure, vulnerable irresistible collaborations, and so on. They manage the general misfortune win connections and thus may have applications outside of biological systems. At the point when focused connections are painstakingly inspected, they are regularly in actuality a few types of predator-prey communication in simulation. 

 Looking at Lotka-Volterra Model:

The well known Italian mathematician Vito Volterra proposed a differential condition model to clarify the watched increment in predator fish in the Adriatic Sea during World War I. Simultaneously in the United States, the conditions contemplated by Volterra were determined freely by Alfred Lotka (1925) to portray a theoretical synthetic response wherein the concoction fixations waver. The Lotka-Volterra model is the least complex model of predator-prey communications. It depends on direct per capita development rates, which are composed as f=b−py and g=rx−d. 

A detailed explanation of the parameters:

  • The parameter b is the development rate of species x (the prey) without communication with species y (the predators). Prey numbers are reduced by these collaborations: The per capita development rate diminishes (here directly) with expanding y, conceivably getting to be negative. 
  • The parameter p estimates the effect of predation on x˙/x. 
  • The parameter d is the death rate of species y without connection with species x. 
  • The term rx means the net rate of development of the predator population in light of the size of the prey population.

Reference:

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Predator-prey_model

 

 This is a basic BIDE (birth, immigration, death, emigration) model.  Not all parts are implemented, however Birth and Death are.

This is a basic BIDE (birth, immigration, death, emigration) model.  Not all parts are implemented, however Birth and Death are.

This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  We incorporate logistic growth into the moose dynamics, and we replace the death flow of the moose with a kill rate modeled from the kill rate data found on the Isle Royale websi
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

We incorporate logistic growth into the moose dynamics, and we replace the death flow of the moose with a kill rate modeled from the kill rate data found on the Isle Royale website.

I start with these parameters:
Wolf Death Rate = 0.15
Wolf Birth Rate = 0.0187963
Moose Birth Rate = 0.4
Carrying Capacity = 2000
Initial Moose: 563
Initial Wolves: 20

I used RK-4 with step-size 0.1, from 1959 for 60 years.

The moose birth flow is logistic, MBR*M*(1-M/K)
Moose death flow is Kill Rate (in Moose/Year)
Wolf birth flow is WBR*Kill Rate (in Wolves/Year)
Wolf death flow is WDR*W

 This is a basic BIDE (birth, immigration, death, emigration) model.  Not all parts are implemented, however Birth and Death are.

This is a basic BIDE (birth, immigration, death, emigration) model.  Not all parts are implemented, however Birth and Death are.

This simulation shows how plant, deer and wolf populations impact each other in a deciduous forest ecosystem.
This simulation shows how plant, deer and wolf populations impact each other in a deciduous forest ecosystem.
  Физический смысл уравнений    Модель Лотки-Вольтерры делает ряд предположений об окружающей среде и эволюции популяций хищников и жертв:         1. Хищная популяция всегда находит достаточно пищи.  2. Продовольственная обеспеченность популяции хищника полностью зависит от размера популяции жертвы.
Физический смысл уравнений
Модель Лотки-Вольтерры делает ряд предположений об окружающей среде и эволюции популяций хищников и жертв:

1. Хищная популяция всегда находит достаточно пищи.
2. Продовольственная обеспеченность популяции хищника полностью зависит от размера популяции жертвы.
3. Скорость изменения численности населения пропорциональна его численности.
4. В ходе этого процесса окружающая среда не меняется в пользу одного вида, и генетическая адаптация не имеет существенного значения.
5. Хищники обладают безграничным аппетитом.
Поскольку используются дифференциальные уравнения, решение является детерминированным и непрерывным. Это, в свою очередь, означает, что поколения как хищника, так и жертвы постоянно пересекаются.

Добыча
Когда умножается, уравнение добычи становится
dx/dt = αx - βxy
  Предполагается, что добыча имеет неограниченный запас пищи и размножается экспоненциально, если только она не подвержена хищничеству; этот экспоненциальный рост представлен в приведенном выше уравнении термином  αx. Предполагается, что скорость хищничества на добыче пропорциональна скорости, с которой встречаются хищники и добыча; это представлено выше в виде βxy.Если либо x, либо y равно нулю, то хищничества быть не может.
С помощью этих двух терминов приведенное выше уравнение можно интерпретировать следующим образом: изменение численности добычи определяется ее собственным ростом минус скорость, с которой она охотится.
ХищникиУравнение хищника становится

dy/dt =  - 

В этом уравнении,  представляет рост популяции хищника. (Обратите внимание на сходство со скоростью хищничества; однако используется другая константа, поскольку скорость роста популяции хищника не обязательно равна скорости, с которой он потребляет добычу).  представляет собой уровень потерь хищников вследствие естественной смерти или эмиграции; это приводит к экспоненциальному распаду в отсутствие добычи.


Следовательно, уравнение выражает изменение популяции хищников как рост, подпитываемый запасом пищи, минус естественная смерть.


This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  Experiment with adjusting the moose birth-rate to simulate Over-shoot followed by environmental recovery
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

Experiment with adjusting the moose birth-rate to simulate Over-shoot followed by environmental recovery
    Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")  Tags:  Education ,  Chaos ,  Ecology ,  Biology ,  Population   Thanks to Insight Author:  John Petersen       Edits by Andy Long     Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model).

Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")
Thanks to Insight Author: John Petersen

Edits by Andy Long

Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model). I just wanted to make a few comments.

We are looking at Hare and Lynx, of course. Clone this insight, and change the names.

Then read the text below, to get acquainted with one of the most important and well-known examples of a simple system of differential equations in all of mathematics.

http://www.nku.edu/~longa/classes/mat375/mathematica/Lotka-Volterra.nb
------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamic simulation modelers are particularly interested in understanding and being able to distinguish between the behavior of stocks and flows that result from internal interactions and those that result from external forces acting on a system. 

For some time modelers have been particularly interested in internal interactions that result in stable oscillations in the absence of any external forces acting on a system. 

The model in this last scenario was independently developed by Alfred Lotka (1924) and Vito Volterra (1926).  Lotka was interested in understanding internal dynamics that might explain oscillations in moth and butterfly populations and the parasitoids that attack them.  Volterra was interested in explaining an increase in coastal populations of predatory fish and a decrease in their prey that was observed during World War I when human fishing pressures on the predator species declined. 

Both discovered that a relatively simple model is capable of producing the cyclical behaviors they observed. 

Since that time, several researchers have been able to reproduce the modeling dynamics in simple experimental systems consisting of only predators and prey.  It is now generally recognized that the model world that Lotka and Volterra produced is too simple to explain the complexity of most predator-prey dynamics in nature.  And yet, the model significantly advanced our understanding of the critical role of feedback in predator-prey interactions and in feeding relationships that result in community dynamics.

The Lotka–Volterra model makes a number of assumptions about the environment and evolution of the predator and prey populations:

1. The prey population finds ample food at all times.
2. The food supply of the predator population depends entirely on the size of the prey population.
3. The rate of change of population is proportional to its size.
4. During the process, the environment does not change in favour of one species and genetic adaptation is inconsequential.
5. Predators have limitless appetite.

As differential equations are used, the solution is deterministic and continuous. This, in turn, implies that the generations of both the predator and prey are continually overlapping.[23]

Prey
When multiplied out, the prey equation becomes
dx/dtαx - βxy
 The prey are assumed to have an unlimited food supply, and to reproduce exponentially unless subject to predation; this exponential growth is represented in the equation above by the term αx. The rate of predation upon the prey is assumed to be proportional to the rate at which the predators and the prey meet; this is represented above by βxy. If either x or y is zero then there can be no predation.

With these two terms the equation above can be interpreted as: the change in the prey's numbers is given by its own growth minus the rate at which it is preyed upon.

Predators

The predator equation becomes

dy/dt =  - 

In this equation, {\displaystyle \displaystyle \delta xy} represents the growth of the predator population. (Note the similarity to the predation rate; however, a different constant is used as the rate at which the predator population grows is not necessarily equal to the rate at which it consumes the prey). {\displaystyle \displaystyle \gamma y} represents the loss rate of the predators due to either natural death or emigration; it leads to an exponential decay in the absence of prey.

Hence the equation expresses the change in the predator population as growth fueled by the food supply, minus natural death.


Challenges in sustainability are multilevel. This diagram attempts to summarize levels of self reinforcing destructive dynamics, authors that deal with them, and point of leverage for change.  The base of the crisis is a mechanistic rather than ecological worldview. This mechanistic worldview is bas
Challenges in sustainability are multilevel.
This diagram attempts to summarize levels of self reinforcing destructive dynamics, authors that deal with them, and point of leverage for change.

The base of the crisis is a mechanistic rather than ecological worldview. This mechanistic worldview is based on outdated science that assumed the universe to be a large machine. In a machine there is an inside and an outside. The health of the inside is important for the machine, the outside not. In an ecological view everything is interconnected, there is no clear separation in the future of self and other. All parts influence the health of other parts. To retain health sensitivity and democracy are inherent. The sense of separation from other that keeps the mechanistic worldview dominant is duality. Being cut off from spiritual traditions due to a mechanistic view of science people need access to inter-spirituality to reconnect with the human traditions and tools around connectedness, inner discovery, and compassion. Many books on modern physics and biology deal with the system view implications. "The coming interspiritual age" deals with the need to connect spiritual traditions and science.

At the bottom for the dynamic is an individual a sense of disconnectedness leads to a dependency on spending and having rather than connecting. The connecting has become too painful and dealing with it unpopular in our culture. Joanna Macy deals with this in Active Hope. 

This affluenza and disconnection is worsened by a market that floods one with advertisements aimed at creating needs and a sense of dissatisfaction with that one has.

National economies are structured around maximising GDP which means maximising consumption and financial capital movement. This is at the cost of local economies. These same local economies are needed for balanced happiness as well as for sustainability.

Generally institutions focus on maximising consumption rather than sustaining life support systems. David Korten covers this well.

Power and wealth is confused in this worldview. In striving for wealth only power is striven for in the form of money and monopoly.

Those at the head of large banks and corporations tend to be there because they exemplify this approach. They have few scruples about enforcing this approach onto everyone through wars and disaster capitalism. Naomi Klein and David Estulin documented this.

Power has become so centralized that we need this understanding to be widespread and include many of those in power. Progress of all of these levels are needed to show them and all that another way is possible.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
    Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")  Tags:  Education ,  Chaos ,  Ecology ,  Biology ,  Population   Thanks to Insight Author:  John Petersen       Edits by Andy Long     Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model).

Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")
Thanks to Insight Author: John Petersen

Edits by Andy Long

Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model). I just wanted to make a few comments.

We are looking at Hare and Lynx, of course. Clone this insight, and change the names.

Then read the text below, to get acquainted with one of the most important and well-known examples of a simple system of differential equations in all of mathematics.

http://www.nku.edu/~longa/classes/mat375/mathematica/Lotka-Volterra.nb
------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamic simulation modelers are particularly interested in understanding and being able to distinguish between the behavior of stocks and flows that result from internal interactions and those that result from external forces acting on a system. 

For some time modelers have been particularly interested in internal interactions that result in stable oscillations in the absence of any external forces acting on a system. 

The model in this last scenario was independently developed by Alfred Lotka (1924) and Vito Volterra (1926).  Lotka was interested in understanding internal dynamics that might explain oscillations in moth and butterfly populations and the parasitoids that attack them.  Volterra was interested in explaining an increase in coastal populations of predatory fish and a decrease in their prey that was observed during World War I when human fishing pressures on the predator species declined. 

Both discovered that a relatively simple model is capable of producing the cyclical behaviors they observed. 

Since that time, several researchers have been able to reproduce the modeling dynamics in simple experimental systems consisting of only predators and prey.  It is now generally recognized that the model world that Lotka and Volterra produced is too simple to explain the complexity of most predator-prey dynamics in nature.  And yet, the model significantly advanced our understanding of the critical role of feedback in predator-prey interactions and in feeding relationships that result in community dynamics.

The Lotka–Volterra model makes a number of assumptions about the environment and evolution of the predator and prey populations:

1. The prey population finds ample food at all times.
2. The food supply of the predator population depends entirely on the size of the prey population.
3. The rate of change of population is proportional to its size.
4. During the process, the environment does not change in favour of one species and genetic adaptation is inconsequential.
5. Predators have limitless appetite.

As differential equations are used, the solution is deterministic and continuous. This, in turn, implies that the generations of both the predator and prey are continually overlapping.[23]

Prey
When multiplied out, the prey equation becomes
dx/dtαx - βxy
 The prey are assumed to have an unlimited food supply, and to reproduce exponentially unless subject to predation; this exponential growth is represented in the equation above by the term αx. The rate of predation upon the prey is assumed to be proportional to the rate at which the predators and the prey meet; this is represented above by βxy. If either x or y is zero then there can be no predation.

With these two terms the equation above can be interpreted as: the change in the prey's numbers is given by its own growth minus the rate at which it is preyed upon.

Predators

The predator equation becomes

dy/dt =  - 

In this equation, {\displaystyle \displaystyle \delta xy} represents the growth of the predator population. (Note the similarity to the predation rate; however, a different constant is used as the rate at which the predator population grows is not necessarily equal to the rate at which it consumes the prey). {\displaystyle \displaystyle \gamma y} represents the loss rate of the predators due to either natural death or emigration; it leads to an exponential decay in the absence of prey.

Hence the equation expresses the change in the predator population as growth fueled by the food supply, minus natural death.


This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  We incorporate logistic growth into the moose dynamics, and we replace the death flow of the moose with a kill rate modeled from the kill rate data found on the Isle Royale websi
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

We incorporate logistic growth into the moose dynamics, and we replace the death flow of the moose with a kill rate modeled from the kill rate data found on the Isle Royale website.

A decent match to the data is made with
Wolf Death Rate = 0.15
Wolf Birth Rate Factor = 0.0203
Moose Death Rate Factor = 1.08
Moose Birth Rate = 0.4
Carrying Capacity = 2000
Initial Moose: 563
Initial Wolves: 20

I used RK-4 with step-size 0.1, from 1959 for 60 years.

The moose birth flow is MBR*M*(1-M/K)
Moose death flow is MDRF*Sqrt(M*W)
Wolf birth flow is WBRF*Sqrt(M*W)
Wolf death flow is WDR*W

    Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")  Tags:  Education ,  Chaos ,  Ecology ,  Biology ,  Population   Thanks to Insight Author:  John Petersen       Edits by Andy Long     Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model).

Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")
Thanks to Insight Author: John Petersen

Edits by Andy Long

Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model). I just wanted to make a few comments.

We are looking at Hare and Lynx, of course. Clone this insight, and change the names.

Then read the text below, to get acquainted with one of the most important and well-known examples of a simple system of differential equations in all of mathematics.

http://www.nku.edu/~longa/classes/mat375/mathematica/Lotka-Volterra.nb
------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamic simulation modelers are particularly interested in understanding and being able to distinguish between the behavior of stocks and flows that result from internal interactions and those that result from external forces acting on a system. 

For some time modelers have been particularly interested in internal interactions that result in stable oscillations in the absence of any external forces acting on a system. 

The model in this last scenario was independently developed by Alfred Lotka (1924) and Vito Volterra (1926).  Lotka was interested in understanding internal dynamics that might explain oscillations in moth and butterfly populations and the parasitoids that attack them.  Volterra was interested in explaining an increase in coastal populations of predatory fish and a decrease in their prey that was observed during World War I when human fishing pressures on the predator species declined. 

Both discovered that a relatively simple model is capable of producing the cyclical behaviors they observed. 

Since that time, several researchers have been able to reproduce the modeling dynamics in simple experimental systems consisting of only predators and prey.  It is now generally recognized that the model world that Lotka and Volterra produced is too simple to explain the complexity of most predator-prey dynamics in nature.  And yet, the model significantly advanced our understanding of the critical role of feedback in predator-prey interactions and in feeding relationships that result in community dynamics.

The Lotka–Volterra model makes a number of assumptions about the environment and evolution of the predator and prey populations:

1. The prey population finds ample food at all times.
2. The food supply of the predator population depends entirely on the size of the prey population.
3. The rate of change of population is proportional to its size.
4. During the process, the environment does not change in favour of one species and genetic adaptation is inconsequential.
5. Predators have limitless appetite.

As differential equations are used, the solution is deterministic and continuous. This, in turn, implies that the generations of both the predator and prey are continually overlapping.[23]

Prey
When multiplied out, the prey equation becomes
dx/dtαx - βxy
 The prey are assumed to have an unlimited food supply, and to reproduce exponentially unless subject to predation; this exponential growth is represented in the equation above by the term αx. The rate of predation upon the prey is assumed to be proportional to the rate at which the predators and the prey meet; this is represented above by βxy. If either x or y is zero then there can be no predation.

With these two terms the equation above can be interpreted as: the change in the prey's numbers is given by its own growth minus the rate at which it is preyed upon.

Predators

The predator equation becomes

dy/dt =  - 

In this equation, {\displaystyle \displaystyle \delta xy} represents the growth of the predator population. (Note the similarity to the predation rate; however, a different constant is used as the rate at which the predator population grows is not necessarily equal to the rate at which it consumes the prey). {\displaystyle \displaystyle \gamma y} represents the loss rate of the predators due to either natural death or emigration; it leads to an exponential decay in the absence of prey.

Hence the equation expresses the change in the predator population as growth fueled by the food supply, minus natural death.


This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.  Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
This model illustrates predator prey interactions using real-life data of wolf and moose populations on the Isle Royale.

Experiment with adjusting the initial number of moose and wolves on the island.
    Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")  Tags:  Education ,  Chaos ,  Ecology ,  Biology ,  Population   Thanks to Insight Author:  John Petersen       Edits by Andy Long     Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model).

Clone of Bio103 Predator-Prey Model ("Lotka'Volterra")
Thanks to Insight Author: John Petersen

Edits by Andy Long

Everything that follows the dashes was created by John Petersen (or at least came from his Insight model). I just wanted to make a few comments.

We are looking at Hare and Lynx, of course. Clone this insight, and change the names.

Then read the text below, to get acquainted with one of the most important and well-known examples of a simple system of differential equations in all of mathematics.

http://www.nku.edu/~longa/classes/mat375/mathematica/Lotka-Volterra.nb
------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamic simulation modelers are particularly interested in understanding and being able to distinguish between the behavior of stocks and flows that result from internal interactions and those that result from external forces acting on a system. 

For some time modelers have been particularly interested in internal interactions that result in stable oscillations in the absence of any external forces acting on a system. 

The model in this last scenario was independently developed by Alfred Lotka (1924) and Vito Volterra (1926).  Lotka was interested in understanding internal dynamics that might explain oscillations in moth and butterfly populations and the parasitoids that attack them.  Volterra was interested in explaining an increase in coastal populations of predatory fish and a decrease in their prey that was observed during World War I when human fishing pressures on the predator species declined. 

Both discovered that a relatively simple model is capable of producing the cyclical behaviors they observed. 

Since that time, several researchers have been able to reproduce the modeling dynamics in simple experimental systems consisting of only predators and prey.  It is now generally recognized that the model world that Lotka and Volterra produced is too simple to explain the complexity of most predator-prey dynamics in nature.  And yet, the model significantly advanced our understanding of the critical role of feedback in predator-prey interactions and in feeding relationships that result in community dynamics.

The Lotka–Volterra model makes a number of assumptions about the environment and evolution of the predator and prey populations:

1. The prey population finds ample food at all times.
2. The food supply of the predator population depends entirely on the size of the prey population.
3. The rate of change of population is proportional to its size.
4. During the process, the environment does not change in favour of one species and genetic adaptation is inconsequential.
5. Predators have limitless appetite.

As differential equations are used, the solution is deterministic and continuous. This, in turn, implies that the generations of both the predator and prey are continually overlapping.[23]

Prey
When multiplied out, the prey equation becomes
dx/dtαx - βxy
 The prey are assumed to have an unlimited food supply, and to reproduce exponentially unless subject to predation; this exponential growth is represented in the equation above by the term αx. The rate of predation upon the prey is assumed to be proportional to the rate at which the predators and the prey meet; this is represented above by βxy. If either x or y is zero then there can be no predation.

With these two terms the equation above can be interpreted as: the change in the prey's numbers is given by its own growth minus the rate at which it is preyed upon.

Predators

The predator equation becomes

dy/dt =  - 

In this equation, {\displaystyle \displaystyle \delta xy} represents the growth of the predator population. (Note the similarity to the predation rate; however, a different constant is used as the rate at which the predator population grows is not necessarily equal to the rate at which it consumes the prey). {\displaystyle \displaystyle \gamma y} represents the loss rate of the predators due to either natural death or emigration; it leads to an exponential decay in the absence of prey.

Hence the equation expresses the change in the predator population as growth fueled by the food supply, minus natural death.