Math 142-2, Homework 2
Your name here
April 7, 2014
Problem 35.3
Consider a species in which both no individuals live to three years old and only one-year olds
reproduce.
(a) Show that b0 = 0, b2 = 0, d2 = 1 satisfy both conditions.
Your solution goes here
(b) Let b1 = b. What is the A matrix?
Your solution goes here
(c) Determine (a computer is not necessary) the time development of a population initially
consisting of N0 = 100, N1 = 100, N2 = 100. Explicitly calculate the following three cases of birth
and death rates:
1. b = 1, d0 = 21 , d1 = 1
2
2. b = 2, d0 = 21 , d1 = 1
2
3. b = 3, d0 = 21 , d1 = 1
2
Your solution goes here
Problem 37.2
F.E. Smith suggested a different simple model of the population growth of a species limited
by the food supply based on experiments on a type of water bug. As in the logistic model, the
growth rate is proportional to the difference between the available food fa and the subsistence
level of food consumption fc :
1 dN
= α(fa − fc ).
N dt
1
However, previously fc was assumed proportional to the number in individuals of the species.
Smith instead assumed that more food is necessary for survival during the growing phase of a
population. Consequently a simple model would be
dN
fc = βN + γ
dt
with γ > 0. What differential equation describes this model? What are the equilibrium
populations?
Your solution goes here
Problem 37.4
Which of the following are reasonable models of the spread of a disease among a finite number
of people:
(1) dN/dt = αN
(2) dN/dt = α(NT − N )
(3) dN/dt = α(N − NT )
where N is the number of infected individuals and NT is the total population.
Your solution goes here
Problem 37.5
A certain species has an instantaneous growth rate of 27 percent per year when not affected
by crowding. Experimentally, for each 1000 of the species the birth rate drops by 12 per 1000
per year, and the death rate increases by 50 per 1000 per year. Determine the parameters
of a logistic equation which models this species. What is the expected nonzero equilibrium
population?
Your solution goes here
Problem 38.3
Consider Smith’s model of population growth (see exercise 37.2)
dN N α(fa − βN )
= .
dt 1 + N αγ
Are the equilibrium populations stable?
Your solution goes here
2
Problem 39.1
Consider dN/dt = αN 2 − βN (with α > 0, β > 0).
(a) How does the growth rate depend on the population?
Your solution goes here
(b) Sketch the solution in the phase plane.
Your solution goes here
(c) Obtain the exact solution.
Your solution goes here
(d) Show how both parts (b) and (c) illustrate the following behavior:
(i) If N0 > β/α, then N → ∞. (At what time does N → ∞?)
Your solution goes here
(ii) If N0 < β/α, then N → 0.
Your solution goes here
(iii) What happens if N0 = β/α?
Your solution goes here
Problem 39.2
The general solution of the logistic equation, equation 39.1, has been shown to be equation
39.3. Show that this exact solution has the following properties: (1) It is defined for all t ≥ 0.
Your solution goes here
3
(2) As t → ∞, N → a/b for all initial conditions except N0 = 0. (Note: It takes an infinite
amount of time to reach the equilibrium population.)
Your solution goes here
Problem 39.4
Consider the following growth model:
dN
= aN + bN 2 with a > 0, b > 0.
dt
(a) How does the growth rate depend on N ?
Your solution goes here
(b) What would you expect happens to the population?
Your solution goes here
(c) By using the phase plane, show that the population tends towards infinity.
Your solution goes here
(d) By considering the exact solution, show that the population reaches infinity in finite
time; what might be called a population explosion.
Your solution goes here
Additional Problem
Consider the population model dN/dt = −(a − bN )2 , where a > 0, b > 0, and N > 0. (At N = 0,
the population is extinct, and dN/dt = 0.)
(a) Show that this model is just the logistic equation with a constant migration term added
to it. Are individuals migrating into the population or away from it?
Your solution goes here
4
(b) Sketch the solution in the phase plane.
Your solution goes here
(c) Identify the equilibrium. Is it stable? Justify your answer.
Your solution goes here
(d) Find the exact solution in terms of a, b, and the initial value N0 .
Your solution goes here
(e) Show that if N0 is greater than the equilibrium value, N approaches equilibrium but
neither reaches it nor crosses it.
Your solution goes here
(f ) Show that if N0 is less than the equilibrium value, N becomes extinct in finite time.
Your solution goes here