Analysis of Persistence in Model Ecosystems: Deterministic and Stochastic Food Web Models

摘要

Mathematical models aid in understanding environmental systems and in developing testable hypotheses relevant to the fate and ecological effects of toxic substances in such systems. Within the framework of microcosm or laboratory ecosystem modeling, some differential equation models, in particular, become tractable to mathematical analysis when the focus is on the problem of persistence. In this report a microcosm-related, nutrient-producer-grazer, chemostat-chain model and general food web models are analyzed for persistence. The results, which take the form of inequalities involving model parameters, specify sufficient conditions for continued presence of the model components throughout indefinite time intervals. These results can serve as a basis for preliminary evaluations of model performance.