Effect of protection zone on the dynamics of a diffusion-advection population-toxicant model

TL;DR

This study models how boundary protection zones influence the persistence or extinction of populations affected by toxicants, considering ecological factors and toxicant transport dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled diffusion-advection model with protection zones and analyzes their impact on population and toxicant dynamics using mathematical methods.

Findings

Protection zones can promote population persistence under certain conditions.

The stability of population and toxicant states depends on zone length and toxicant parameters.

Numerical simulations show complex effects of protection zones and advection rates.

Abstract

This paper develops and analyzes a diffusion-advection model coupling population dynamics with toxicant transport, incorporating a boundary protection zone. For both upstream and downstream protection zone configurations, we investigate the combined influence of protected zones and key ecological factors on population persistence or extinction. Employing monotone dynamical system theory and eigenvalue analysis, we establish the global dynamics of the population-toxicant coexistence equilibrium. Furthermore, we characterize the parameter dependence governing the stability of the toxicant-only steady state, specifically examining the protected zone length, toxicant effect coefficient on population growth, per-unit contaminant discharge rate, toxicant input rate, diffusion/advection rates, and population natural growth rate. Finally, numerical simulations reveal the complex interplay between the protection zone and toxicant advection rate in significantly shaping population persistence domains.