Parametric identification of the model with one predator and two prey species

Abstract

In this paper a mathematical model describing the interaction of a lion population with that of the zebra and wildebeest populations is considered. The traditional method uses a model with known coefficients and a CAS numerical routine to determine a numerical solution that can be compared to historical data about the populations. The numerical values of the coefficients involved are usually "educated guesses" made by the team consisting of, for example, biologists, game rangers and experienced applied mathematicians. The coefficients are usually described in terms of quantities such as "carrying capacity", "birth rate" et cetera, and might mean little to the mathematician. In this paper an "inverse method" is considered, that is, a method easy enough for senior undergraduate and graduate mathematics majors to understand and apply as part of a "biomechanics" team in the field. This approach considers the model in question to have unknown coefficients. Using a CAS, numerical integration is applied using the historical data and then elementary statistical methods are used to determine the value of the coefficients