Age-Structured Population Dynamics with Nonlocal Diffusion.

Abstract

Random diffusive age-structured population models have been studied by many researchers. Though nonlocal diffusion processes are more applicable to many biological and physical problems compared with random diffusion processes, there are very few theoretical results on age-structured population models with nonlocal diffusion. In this paper our objective is to develop basic theory for age-structured population dynamics with nonlocal diffusion. In particular, we study the semigroup of linear operators associated to an age-structured model with nonlocal diffusion and use the spectral properties of its infinitesimal generator to determine the stability of the zero steady state. It is shown that (i) the structure of the semigroup for the age-structured model with nonlocal diffusion is essentially determined by that of the semigroups for the age-structured model without diffusion and the nonlocal operator when both birth and death rates are independent of spatial variables; (ii) the asymptotic behavior can be determined by the sign of spectral bound of the infinitesimal generator when both birth and death rates are dependent on spatial variables; (iii) the weak solution and comparison principle can be established when both birth and death rates are dependent on spatial variables and time; and (iv) the above results can be generalized to an age-size structured model. In addition, we compare our results with the age-structured model with Laplacian diffusion in the first two cases (i) and (ii).