Applying allometric scaling to predator-prey systems

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

In population dynamics, mathematical models often contain too many parameters to be easily testable. A way to reliably estimate parameters for a broad range of systems would help us obtain clearer predictions from theory. In this paper, we examine how the allometric scaling of a number of biological quantities with animal mass may be useful to parameterize population dynamical models. Using this allometric scaling, we make predictions about the ratio of prey to predators in real ecosystems, and we attempt to estimate the length of animal population cycles as a function of mass. Our analytical and numerical results turn out to compare reasonably to data from a number of ecosystems. This paves the way for a wider usage of allometric scaling to simplify mathematical models in population dynamics and make testable predictions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number022405
JournalPhysical Review E
Volume99
Issue number2
Number of pages8
ISSN2470-0045
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Feb 2019

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 217103713