Dispersal and spatial heterogeneity: single species (Q907122)

The starting point for this research is the paper by \textit{Y. Lou} [J. Differ. Equations 223, No. 2, 400--426 (2006; Zbl 1097.35079)] dealing with the dynamics of a single species described by the logistic reaction-diffusion equation \[ \begin{aligned} u_{t} & =d\Delta u+u\left( m\left( x\right) -u\right) \quad \text{in }\Omega\times\mathbb{R}^{+},\\ \partial_{\nu}u & =0\quad\text{on }\partial\Omega\times\mathbb{R}^{+}, \end{aligned} \] where \(u\left( x,t\right) \) is the population density of a species at the location \(x\in\Omega\) and at the instant \(t>0,\) \(d\) is the dispersal rate of \(u,\) \(\Omega\) is a bounded domain in \(\mathbb{R}^{N},\) and \(m\left( x\right) \) represents both the local carrying capacity and the intrinsic growth rate of the species \(u.\) Lou made a striking observation that a population diffusing at any rate in an environment with spatially varying resources will reach a higher total equilibrium biomass in comparison with the population in an environment where total resources are distributed homogeneously, that is, \[ \int_{\Omega}\theta_{\mathrm{d}}>\int_{\Omega}m, \] where \(\theta_{\mathrm{d}}\) is a unique positive steady state. Arguing that the use of the same function \(m\left( x\right) \) for the representation of the local carrying capacity and the intrinsic growth rate is not realistic in ecology, the authors modify the logistic reaction term introducing two parameters, \(r(x)\) for intrinsic growth rate, and \(K(x)\) for carrying capacity, \[ r\left( x\right) u\left( 1-\frac{u}{K(x)}\right) . \] They establish the existence, uniqueness, and asymptotic stability of the positive steady state \(u_{\mathrm{d}}\) of a modified equation and explore its various properties paying a special attention to the case when the condition \[ \int_{\Omega}u_{\mathrm{d}}>\int_{\Omega}K \] holds. In the final part of the paper, the relevance of the results and their implications to population theory and conservation ecology are discussed.