MATH36032 Problem Solving by Computer: Assignment 1.

Due 5pm Thursday March 6th 2014. Topics: writing script and function M-les, matrices, eigenvalues, plots. Useful MATLAB functions: length, diag, eig, max, sum, bar 1. Table 1 lists reproduction and survivor rates for the female population of a certain species of domestic sheep in New Zealand, where sheep farming is a major segment of the economy. Sheep give birth only once a year, which dictates a natural time step of one year. In the species under consideration, sheep do not live longer than 12 years, which gives a natural stopping point for the age classes. Age in years 01 12 23 34 45 56 67 78 89 910 1011 1112 Birth rate 0.000 0.045 0.391 0.472 0.484 0.546 0.543 0.502 0.468 0.459 0.433 0.421 Survival rate 0.845 0.975 0.965 0.950 0.926 0.895 0.850 0.786 0.691 0.561 0.370 0.000

Table 1: Birth and survival rates for female New Zealand sheep [from G. Gaughley, Parameters for Seasonally Breeding Populations, Ecology (48):834839, 1967.]

(a) Write a MATLAB function popmodinfo with the specication function [lambda1, sad, nrr] = popmodinfo(L) %POPMODINFO Population model information. % [LAMBDA1, SAD, NRR] = POPMODINFO(L) takes as input a % Leslie matrix L and returns % LAMBDA1 (scalar), the largest eigenvalue of L, % SAD (row vector), the stable age distribution, % NRR (scalar), the net reproduction rate. Note that there is more than one way to compute nrr. You must compute it as eciently as possible and the only MATLAB functions you are allowed to use for this part of the computation are those listed at the top of this page. (b) Consider the data in Table 1. Use the theory of Leslie matrices to deduce that the corresponding Leslie matrix L has a dominant positive eigenvalue, 1 .

Use popmodinfo to nd 1 , the net reproduction rate, and the stable age distribution, and state the results to 2 decimal places. Explain whether the sheep population modelled by L ultimately grows, decays or stays constant. Plot the stable age distribution as a bar graph, using the bar function, taking care to label the axes and give the graph a title. Note: You can download the last two columns of Table 1 from the le sheepab.txt the course web page. All your MATLAB commands for question 1(b) must be contained in one script M-le, called sheep.m, which must be listed along with the output of the M-le. 2. In a 1971 paper in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society the Leslie matrix model was applied to a population of brook trout in Hunt Creek, Michigan. The population was divided into ve classes (ngerlings, yearlings, etc.) and the population parameters were computed to be a = [ 0 0 37 64 82 ] , b = [ 0.06 0.34 0.16 0.08 ] . It is desired that the population in each age class increases by a signicant amount each year. One way to try to achieve this increase is by raising the survival rates, bi (given on the subdiagonal of L). We wish to determine which single survival rate bi is the most protable to increase. We consider perturbing bi bi + and we ask by how much can be expected to increase. We want to know the value (1, 2, 3 or 4) for which the increase is biggest. Let x be an eigenvector corresponding to an eigenvalue of a matrix A (Ax = x) and let y be a left eigenvector corresponding to , so that y T A = y T . (Note that y is the right eigenvector of AT .) (a) With x, y and as just dened, consider the equation (A + A)(x + x) = ( + )(x + x), where A represents a small change in A and and x the corresponding (small) changes in and x. By expanding this equation and neglecting second order terms, show that, to rst order, y T Ax . (1) = yT x (b) By using (1) and choosing a particular A, write down in its simplest form a mathematical expression for the change in the dominant eigenvalue 1 resulting from the perturbation bi bi + in a Leslie matrix L. With the aid of MATLAB evaluate this expression for the Leslie matrix modelling the trout population for i = 1: 4 and deduce which single element this theory predicts is the best to perturb. (c) For = 0.1 and each i = 1: 4, compute the predicted change in 1 and the actual change when bi is increased by , stating the changes to 4 decimal places. Produce a neatly formatted

table of these results in your report; show the M-le that produced the results and the output from the M-le. (d) Finally, nd experimentally by how much the best element identied in (c) must be perturbed in order to increase 1 to 1.1. Make use of (1) for an initial guess. You should determine the value of to 1 correct signicant gure. Notes 1. Throughout this assignment you may use, with due reference, results from the Leslie matrix handout. You can reference it like this Tisseur F. and Lionheart W., (2014), MATH36032: Leslie Matrix Population Model, School of Mathematics, The University of Manchester 2. You must always show the MATLAB code that you typed (perhaps contained in an Mle, which should be listed) and the output you received. However you also need for this to be concise. 3. You are strongly encouraged to write M-les rather than to work entirely at the MATLAB command line. This way, if you make a mistake you can easily modify and re-run your code. 4. Your answers should be written out carefully in good mathematical english. Number your answers to each question. Do not repeat the question verbatim in your answer but explain what you have done. 5. Your answers should be submitted as a machine readable (that is not scanned) pdf (Adobe portable document) le not exceeding 7 A4 size pages using fonts no smaller than 10 points. Instructions for electronic submission will be provided closer to the deadline.