Degree Name
MS (Master of Science)
Program
Biology
Date of Award
8-2017
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Istvan Karsai
Committee Members
Fred Alsop, Thomas F. Laughlin
Abstract
The coexistence of species is probably one of the most interesting and complex phenomenon in nature. We constructed an agent based model to study the coexistence dynamics of prey - predator populations by varying productivity levels of producers in fragmented and connected habitats along with different levels of quality of predators. Our results indicated that productivity levels of producers in fragmented and connected habitats along with levels of predator quality are significantly responsible for overall predator - prey population size and survivorship. In the absence of predation, competition between identical prey populations is more probable in connected habitats than in unfragmented or fragmented habitats. Implementing low quality predators in the habitats positively influences the overall coexistence dynamics whereas implementing high quality predators tend to decrease the prey populations. Fragmented habitats provide for greater prey population survival time in highly productive environments but low prey population survival time in less productive environments.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Thapa, Shiva, "Ecological Informatics: An Agent Based Model on Coexistence Dynamics" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3303. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3303
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.