A Computer Model of Biomass Dynamics and Food Competition with Implications for its Use in Fishery Management
- 1 April 1974
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 103 (2) , 215-225
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1974)103<215:acmobd>2.0.co;2
Abstract
A model useful for managing interacting fish species, based on concepts of food competition, is developed and tested. The model consists of differential equations. One, in the Pearl‐Verhulst idiom, specifies organisms which can serve only as food resources for consumers of higher trophic status. A ˈstorageˈ equation describes ingestion and assimilation of food by a consumer. Another equation derived with the storage equation describes growth and attrition (i.e., metabolic and mortality costs) in terms of energy. Further, consumers may prey upon each other in addition to the resources and the equations are shown to be adequate for describing food webs. The model is essentially one of energy flow and deals with biomass, instead of numerical, dynamics. Coded in a computer language (PL/I), the model simulates competition and clarifies aspects of yield and harvest strategies in systems of interacting populations. The model is illustrated with hypothetical populations which have variable turnover rates and the Lake‐Trout‐Burbot system in Lake Opeongo, Ontario.Keywords
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