Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling
Published on: July 4, 2007
Chaotic Dynamics in an Insect Population
Costantino1, Desharnais, Cushing
1R. F. Costantino, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA. R. A. Desharnais, Department of Biology and Microbiology, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. J. M. Cushing, Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. B. Dennis, Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and Division of Statistics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA.
Abstract:
A nonlinear demographic model was used to predict the population dynamics of the flour beetle Tribolium under laboratory conditions and to establish the experimental protocol that would reveal chaotic behavior. With the adult mortality rate experimentally set high, the dynamics of animal abundance changed from equilibrium to quasiperiodic cycles to chaos as adult-stage recruitment rates were experimentally manipulated. These transitions in dynamics corresponded to those predicted by the mathematical model. Phase-space graphs of the data together with the deterministic model attractors provide convincing evidence of transitions to chaos.
Related Concept Videos
Population Growth
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Genetic Drift
Entropy Changes Accompanying Specific Processes
Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Individual and Population Analysis
Modeling with Differential Equations

