Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 11: Posters: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems (joint with DY)
BP 11.8: Poster
Monday, March 11, 2013, 17:30–19:30, Poster B2
Simple models for generation cycles — •Torsten Pfaff1, Barbara Drossel1, and Christian Guill2 — 1Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt — 2Institut für Zoologie und Anthropologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Many biological species show population oscillations due to density dependent competition. The periods of the oscillations are related to the life cycle of the species, and they have been used to classify the oscillating systems.
We present three simple models consisting of a one dimensional time delay equation with only two parameters. These models show all essential properties of generation cycles. Due to their simplicity, they are helpful for obtaining a mechanistic understanding of the population oscillations, and they give new insights into the origin of the periods and into the size of the intervals that are covered by these periods. Based on the insights gained from our simple models, we also obtain a better understanding of the more complex models presented in the classical paper by Gurney & Nisbet 1985, and we can extend their results.
As an outlook, we argue that the simple models are useful for investigating generation effects in many species food webs.