Mathematical Modeling of Birth/Death Dynamics Among Obligate Cooperative Breeders
Disciplines
Applied Mathematics | Biology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Cooperative breeding is a social system in which unrelated individuals provide care to the offspring of others within the social group. The avian species superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus) are an example of such cooperative breeders. Every breeding season, each bird adopts one of three roles: breeder, helper, or non-breeder-non-helper. We developed a mathematical model to study the birth/death dynamics of this breeder-helper subsystem within this species. Our model includes variables to represent the breeder and helper populations and incorporates the effects of natural death, role transitions, carrying capacity, and reproduction. We use our model to study the effects of changing different parameters on the population dynamics of the superb starlings.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Mathematics
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Glenn Young
Mathematical Modeling of Birth/Death Dynamics Among Obligate Cooperative Breeders
Cooperative breeding is a social system in which unrelated individuals provide care to the offspring of others within the social group. The avian species superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus) are an example of such cooperative breeders. Every breeding season, each bird adopts one of three roles: breeder, helper, or non-breeder-non-helper. We developed a mathematical model to study the birth/death dynamics of this breeder-helper subsystem within this species. Our model includes variables to represent the breeder and helper populations and incorporates the effects of natural death, role transitions, carrying capacity, and reproduction. We use our model to study the effects of changing different parameters on the population dynamics of the superb starlings.