Optimal harvesting for a periodic n-dimensional food chain model with size structure in a polluted environment

This study examines an optimal harvesting problem for a periodic n-dimensional food chain model that is dependent on size structure in a polluted environment. This is closely related to the protection of biodiversity, as well as the development and utilization of renewable resources. The model contains state variables representing the density of the ith population, the concentration of toxicants in the ith population, and the concentration of toxicants in the environment. The well-posedness of the hybrid system is proved by using the fixed point theorem. The necessary optimality conditions are derived by using the tangent-normal cone technique in nonlinear functional analysis. The existence and uniqueness of the optimal control pair are verified via the Ekeland variational principle. The finite difference scheme and the chasing method are used to approximate the nonnegative T-periodic solution of the state system corresponding to a given initial datum. Some numerical tests are given to illustrate that the numerical solution has good periodicity. The objective functional here represents the total profit obtained from harvesting n species.