Non-Linear Analysis Indicates Chaotic Dynamics and Reduced Resilience in Model-Based Daphnia Populations Exposed to Environmental Stress

Richard Ottermanns, Kerstin Szonn, Thomas G Preuß and Martina Roß-Nickoll

PLOS ONE, 2014, vol. 9, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: In this study we present evidence that anthropogenic stressors can reduce the resilience of age-structured populations. Enhancement of disturbance in a model-based Daphnia population lead to a repression of chaotic population dynamics at the same time increasing the degree of synchrony between the population's age classes. Based on the theory of chaos-mediated survival an increased risk of extinction was revealed for this population exposed to high concentrations of a chemical stressor. The Lyapunov coefficient was supposed to be a useful indicator to detect disturbance thresholds leading to alterations in population dynamics. One possible explanation could be a discrete change in attractor orientation due to external disturbance. The statistical analysis of Lyapunov coefficient distribution is proposed as a methodology to test for significant non-linear effects of general disturbance on populations. Although many new questions arose, this study forms a theoretical basis for a dynamical definition of population recovery.

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0096270

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096270

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