Abstract
THIS book contains a systematic summary of a number of papers published mainly by Volterra. The problems treated may be exemplified by the following. Denote by N19 N2, N3 the numbers of organisms of three different species, such that the first is feeding on the second and the second on the third. The authors assume simple intuitive hypotheses concerning the three species: (1) The natural death-rate of the two first of them is constant in time. (2) Besides the natural death-rate, there is for the second and third species a death-rate due to the encounters with individuals of the first or the second species respectively. These are assumed to be proportional to the products NiNz and N2N3 respectively. (3) The multiplication rate of the third species is proportional to K X.3, where K and X are positive constants, the negative term being due to the limitation in space occupied by the species. (4) Lastly, the total of the organisms of one species consumed by the others is transformed into flesh, so that the decrease in weight of one species is accompanied by an equal increase of the other. The above hypotheses lead to three linear differential equations in JV's, which are solved and discussed by the authors.
Exposés de biométrie et de statistique biologique
5: Les associations biologiques au point de vue mathématique. Par Vito Volterra et Umberto d'Ancona. (Actualités scientifiques et industrielles, 243.) Pp. 97. (Paris: Hermann et Cie, 1935.) 20 francs.
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N., J. Exposés de biométrie et de statistique biologique. Nature 137, 477 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137477b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137477b0