ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the systems that undergo a period of natural growth, after which they level off to a steady state. Succession of a forest from a bare field to a steady-state climax is simulated by a model of one of these systems. The ecosystems of Florida have fairly complicated webs. Prey-predator kinds of oscillations have not been demonstrated as often in Florida as they have been in the Arctic, where the ecosystems have fewer species. Pioneer mathematical ecologists suggested Prey-predator model might account for the observed oscillations of Arctic animals such as the snowshoe hare and its predator, the lynx. Another kind of oscillating model represents the consumer action with a switching pathway that turns on when the quantity of products reaches a threshold. In the PULSE model, grassland plant producers build up a storage of dead grass and organic matter that holds the nutrients.
