Asymptotic behaviour of a model of hierarchically structured population dynamics (Q1365835)

The paper deals with a hierarchically structured population model with dependence of the vital rates on a function of the population density. The mathematical model is given by an initial boundary value problem for a nonlinear first-order partial differential equation of hyperbolic type: \[ \begin{aligned} & u_{t} + (V(E(x,t))u)_{x} = -m(E(x,t))u, \;x > x_{0}, \;t > 0, \\& V(E(x_{0},t))u(x_{0},t) = \int_{x_{0}}^{\infty} \beta(E(s,t))u(s,t)\;ds , \;t > 0, \\ &u(x,0) = u_{0}(x), \;x \in [x_{0},\infty), \end{aligned} \tag{1} \] where \(E\) is the environment function, given by \[ E(x,t) = \alpha \int_{x_{0}}^{x} u(s,t) \;ds + \int_{x}^{\infty} u(s,t) \;ds, \] the constant \(\alpha\) (\(0 \leq \alpha < 1\)) is related with the degree of hierarchy in the population structure, \(V\) is the individual growth rate, \(\beta\) the reproduction rate, \(m\) the mortality rate and \(x_{0} \geq 0\) is the rank size of a newborn. Under some additional hypotheses on the previous functions, problem (1) is transformed into a local one by means of a change of variables. Then the existence, uniqueness and the asymptotic behaviour of the solutions is shown. Moreover, the global asymptotic stability of a nontrivial equilibrium is studied. Lastly, the authors consider the case where the environment is determined by the biomass distribution in the population, which is natural if the size is the significant variable, showing the existence of a positive total biomass equilibrium without a nontrivial population equilibrium.