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Full-Text Articles in Systems Biology
Convergence Properties Of Solutions Of A Length-Structured Density-Dependent Model For Fish, Geigh Zollicoffer
Convergence Properties Of Solutions Of A Length-Structured Density-Dependent Model For Fish, Geigh Zollicoffer
Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal
We numerically study solutions to a length-structured matrix model for fish populations in which the probability that a fish grows into the next length class is a decreasing nonlinear function of the total biomass of the population. We make conjectures about the convergence properties of solutions to this equation, and give numerical simulations which support these conjectures. We also study the distribution of biomass in the different age classes as a function of the total biomass.
Parts Of The Whole: Teaching Quantitative Reasoning In The Predator-Prey Model, Dorothy Wallace
Parts Of The Whole: Teaching Quantitative Reasoning In The Predator-Prey Model, Dorothy Wallace
Numeracy
The classical predator-prey equations are in nearly every differential equations text and mathematical biology text. Usually they are presented fait accompli, leaving the student to analyze them or play with a computer program. Here we show that the process of fully understanding where these equations come from and how they are derived provides numerous opportunities to teach or reinforce quantitative reasoning skills necessary to future scientists. This example is used to invoke logic, systems thinking, causal reasoning, understanding functions of one or more variables, quantities versus rates of change, proportional reasoning, unit analysis, and comparison to data.