The spread of living organisms has various impacts on
ecology such as biodiversity, conservation, and economic implications.
One way to study phenomena of the spread is using a mathematical model
consisting of a population dynamics and a spatial process. One
advantage of using a mathematical model is to allow us to estimate the
spread rate of living creatures.
For example, a diffusion competition model was successfully
adapted to describe the spatial rearrangement of the native red
squirrel and the invasion of the newly introduced grey squirrel in
Britain. A reaction diffusion model was used to investigate the
effects of predators on prey reinvasion at Mount St. Helens and the
spread rate was approximated. Likewise, the spatial
process of biological phenomena has often been studied via diffusion
models. In addition to diffusion model, we subsequently discuss how to
estimate the spread rate by using other models such as a telegraph
model, a resting model and a taxis model.
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