Analyzing consequences of increased mortality in resource-consumer models

BLAUSTEIN, MATÍAS; FLAIBANI, NICOLAS; LAVAGNINO, NICOLAS; MAXWELL, JULIAN; CONSTANZA SANCHEZ DE LA VEGA; SIERRA, CATALINA; ALEJANDRA C VENTURA

MATEMÁTICA APLICADA, COMPUTACIONAL E INDUSTRIAL

Asociación Argentina de Matemática Aplicada, Computacional e Industrial

Lugar: Santa Fe; Año: 2023 vol. 9 p. 278 - 281

2314-3282

In this article, we consider a resource-consumer population model by means of a system of ordinary differential equations. Consumer population is stage-structured by considering three types of individuals: juvenile, adult and senior. Using this model, we find conditions for which an increase in the mortality of older individuals produces the paradoxical effect of increasing (rather than decreasing) the population size. On the contrary, in a context of cooperation, population size increases as mortality rates of older individuals decrease. We interpret this result in light of the ecological life history theory and consider the role of natural selection.