Fussmann G F, Ellner S P, Shertzer K W, Hairston N G
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Science. 2000 Nov 17;290(5495):1358-60. doi: 10.1126/science.290.5495.1358.
Population biologists have long been interested in the oscillations in population size displayed by many organisms in the field and laboratory. A wide range of deterministic mathematical models predict that these fluctuations can be generated internally by nonlinear interactions among species and, if correct, would provide important insights for understanding and predicting the dynamics of interacting populations. We studied the dynamical behavior of a two-species aquatic laboratory community encompassing the interactions between a demographically structured herbivore population, a primary producer, and a mineral resource, yet still amenable to description and parameterization using a mathematical model. The qualitative dynamical behavior of our experimental system, that is, cycles, equilibria, and extinction, is highly predictable by a simple nonlinear model.
长期以来，种群生物学家一直对许多生物在野外和实验室中表现出的种群数量波动感兴趣。大量确定性数学模型预测，这些波动可能由物种间的非线性相互作用内在产生，如果这些模型正确，将为理解和预测相互作用种群的动态提供重要见解。我们研究了一个两物种水生实验室群落的动态行为，该群落包含一个具有种群结构的食草动物种群、一个初级生产者和一种矿物质资源之间的相互作用，但仍可用数学模型进行描述和参数化。我们的实验系统的定性动态行为，即循环、平衡和灭绝，可由一个简单的非线性模型高度预测。
