Bio 481 - Problem Set 7 - Metapopulations

1. Start out with a nice and simple metapopulation. Look at it when colonization is 0.05 and extinction is 0.30 (Other parameters are default). How would you quantify the long-term behavior of this system? Make sure you take find some way of describing the variation in the model.
   
   
2. How does colonization rate affect metapopulation extinction. Keep all else constant and generate a graph of the time to extinction (or mean proportion occupied) as a function of colonization rate. Include some sort of "error bars" to describe the variation.
   
   
3. Repeat problem 2, but look at # of patches over a range of interesting behavior. Make sure that you vary colonization rate in a manner that seems to have the same overall colonization effects. How would you do this? Also does it make more sense to keep the # of patches initially occupied or the proportion initially occupied constant?
   
   
4. Now your big task is to analyze the model that includes a rescue effect. You want to have a thorough understanding of how this model differs from the model without the rescue effect. Again, you'll want to look at extinction times, proportion patches occupied, and some measure of the variation.
   
   

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