Lecture 14d: Insect Population Dynamics 1
Exponential Growth
dN/dt = rN
where:
- r is the intrinsic growth rate: (births - deaths)/N
- N is the population size
Exponential Growth (YouTube; 10 minutes)
Logistic Growth
dN/dt = rN((K-N)/K)
where:
- K is the carrying capacity, the maximum population size that can be sustained by the environment
Logistic Growth (YouTube; 11 minutes)
- Building a simple computer model of logistic growth
r and K Selection
- r selected organisms produce many offspring = a high reproduction rate (r)
- K selected organisms produce few offspring, but put significant resources into ensuring their survival
r/K Selection(YouTube; 7 minutes)
Simulating Coconut Rhinoceros Population Dynamics
An interactive Jupyter notebook which explores coconut rhinoceros beetle is available here.
Lotka-Volterra Model of Interspecific Competition
The Lotka-Volterra model is used to calculate changes in the populations of two interacting populations such as a predator and its prey, or an insect and its parasitoid.
An interactive Jupyter notebook which explores the Lotka-Volterra model is available here.
https://notebooks.azure.com/n/symgGHJO7iA/notebooks/Lotka-Volterra-Model.ipynb