Hopf bifurcation for a spatially and age structured population dynamics model (Q256878)

This paper studies a spatially and age-structured population dynamics model which describes the growth of trees, subject to a Ricker-type birth limitation. This model is restated as an abstract nonlocal problem on \(Y\times L^1((0,\infty),Y)\), where \(Y=L^1((0,1),\mathbb{R})\), and subsequently studied using a Hopf bifurcation theorem for abstract non-densely defined Cauchy problems obtained in [\textit{Z. Liu} et al., Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 62, No. 2, 191--222 (2011; Zbl 1242.34112)]. The existence of Hopf bifurcations, which occur at a positive age-dependent steady state of the model, is obtained via an analysis of the spectrum of the non-densely defined linear part. This analysis is significantly more complicated than its counterpart for the corresponding model without spatial structure, yielding a first example for the occurrence of a Hopf bifurcation for a spatially and age-structured population dynamics model. The predicted Hopf bifurcations are then illustrated via numerical simulations.