Loading...
Bistability in Differential Equation Model of Oyster Population and Sediment Volume
Jordan-Cooley, William Crowell
Jordan-Cooley, William Crowell
Abstract
The Chesapeake May oyster has been the focus of more than a century of heavy harvesting and now several decades of restoration attempts. Concerted efforts to rebuild the native oyster population and reef structure have yielded similar results. Recent success in the Great Wicomico River suggests that initial reef height combats growth retarding sedimentation resulting in multiple stable states of reefs. We use a system of three differential equations to model volumes of live oysters, dead oysters, and sediment. We show that multiple nonnegative equilibria exist for an ecologically reasonable range of parameters and the initial height of oyster reefs determines which equilibrium is reached.
Description
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.
Date
2010-05-19
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Collections
Download Dataset
Rights Holder
Usage License
Embargo
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Oyster, Stable states, Equilbrium, Bistability, Differential equation, Model
Citation
Department
Mathematics