Dynamics of a toxin-mediated aquatic population model with delayed toxic responses

Abstract

Traditional mathematical models for studying the effects of environmental toxins on population dynamics usually assume that the toxic effects are immediate. However, the effects of toxins on the reproduction and mortality of aquatic populations can be delayed in reality. In this paper, we propose a new mathematical model with delayed toxic responses for aquatic populations in polluted aquatic environments. The delayed model is analyzed in terms of steady states, stability, and bifurcation. The results show that the delayed effect on the reproduction of aquatic populations does not affect the stability of the interior equilibrium, but the delayed effect on the mortality of aquatic populations can destabilize the interior equilibrium. Numerical results corroborate the theoretical ones are presented.

Keywords

• aquatic population model
• toxin
• time delays
• stability and bifurcation analysis