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Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Western University

Population Dynamics

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Modelling Walleye Population And Its Cannibalism Effect, Quan Zhou Aug 2017

Modelling Walleye Population And Its Cannibalism Effect, Quan Zhou

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Walleye is a very common recreational fish in Canada with a strong cannibalism tendency, such that walleyes with larger sizes will consume their smaller counterparts when food sources are limited or a surplus of adults is present. Cannibalism may be a factor promoting population oscillation. As fish reach a certain age or biological stage (i.e. biological maturity), the number of fish achieving that stage is known as fish recruitment. The objective of this thesis is to model the walleye population with its recruitment and cannibalism effect. A matrix population model has been introduced to characterize the walleye population into three …


Sex Allocation And The Emergence Of Helping In Cooperatively Breeding Species., Josh D Dunn, Teodora Vujicic, Geoff Wild Sep 2015

Sex Allocation And The Emergence Of Helping In Cooperatively Breeding Species., Josh D Dunn, Teodora Vujicic, Geoff Wild

Applied Mathematics Publications

In cooperative breeding systems individuals invest in the reproductive success of others. In this paper, we study the emergence of cooperative breeding systems in which reproductively active breeders receive investment from reproductively non-active helpers. Our goal is to understand how the division of an investment between male and female components of breeder fitness (i.e. the helper sex-allocation strategy) influences the emergence of cooperative breeding itself. Using mathematical models, we arrive at expressions for the inclusive-fitness advantage of helpful behaviour that generalize previous work. These expressions assume an ecologically stable environment, and that breeders make evolutionarily stable sex-allocation decisions. We find …