Effects of spatial distribution and behavior in a logistic equation-based model of natural resources
Abstract
We present a logistic model of growth and diffusion of natural resource that incorporates a harvest term and is applied to investigating the effect of marine protected areas (MPAs). The form of the harvest term makes it possible to differentiate between abusive and non-abusive types of harvest methods. We numerically solve the equation on a 20 × 20 square lattice where each cell is subjected to growth, harvest and diffusion for every iteration. As that with the diffusion term, catastrophic harvest rates which are found for abusive types of harvest and catastrophic conditions are found to be similar to that without the diffusion term. The 10% MPA is found not enough to solve the catastrophic events that may happen except that if strictly implemented will “save” the local protected area from over harvest. The advantage of having MPAs is that the population will never be depleted and sustains a greater population for all magnitude of harvest compared to ones without MPAs. We expect that our model can be used to investigate ways and policies that balances conservation and sustainable support for livelihood.