Analysis of an efficient integrator for a size-structured population model with a dynamical resource

Abstract

In this paper, an efficient numerical method for the approximation of a nonlinear size-structured population model is presented. The nonlinearity of the model is given by dependency on the environment through the consumption of a dynamical resource. We analyse the properties of the numerical scheme and optimal second-order convergence is derived. We report experiments with academical tests to demonstrate numerically the predicted accuracy of the scheme. The model is applied to solve a biological problem: the dynamics of an ectothermic population (the water flea, Daphnia magna). We analyse its long time evolution and describe the asymptotically stable steady states, both equilibria and limit cycles.