Competition is one of the most fundamental interactions occurring among biological species. The investigators study carefully derived models in order to understand the mathematical and biological mechanisms that promote the stage-structure-mediated coexistence phenomenon that occurs under strong inter-specific competition. Special cases that allow a dimensional reduction are particularly important in the study because these cases are amenable to rigorous mathematical analysis using stability theory and bifurcation methods. The robustness of the competitive coexistence phenomenon is investigated by studying a variety of other models, including models allowing a large number of life stages, different kinds of inter-stage competition scenarios, different types of nonlinearities, and communities of more than two competing species.
The importance of the investigation is to study the underlying principle in theoretical ecology that states coexistence among biological species requires some sort of niche separation that decreases inter-specific competition. This project contributes to the understanding of ecological niche and competitive coexistence. Overall, it can lead to the ability to understand and develop mechanisms to handle problems such as natural resource management, introduction or re-introduction of species into ecosystems, sustainable yield in the harvesting of ecosystems, and biocontrol in pest management.
