On dispersal and population growth for multistate matrix models (Q855583)

To describe the dynamics of stage-structured populations with \(m\) stages living in \(n\) patches, the authors consider matrix models of the form \(SD\), where \(S\) is a block diagonal matrix with \(n\times n\) column substochastic matrix blocks \(S_1,\dots, S_m\) along the diagonal and \(D\) is a block matrix whose blocks are \(n\times n\) nonnegative diagonal matrices. The matrix \(S\) describes movement between patches while \(D\) the growth and reproduction within the patches. Consider the multiple arc directed graph \(G\) consisting of the directed graphs corresponding to the matrices \(S_1,\dots, S_m\), where each directed graph is drawn in a different color. \(G\) is then said to have a directed cycle that includes arcs of more than one color. The authors show that \(\rho(SD)\leq \rho(D)\) for all block matrices \(D\) with nonnegative diagonal blocks if and only if \(G\) has no polychromatic cycle, where \(\rho(A)\) is the spectral radius of a matrix \(A\). Applications to ecological models are presented.