TITLE:
Effects of Over-Harvesting and Drought on a Predator-Prey System with Optimal Control
AUTHORS:
Alanus Mapunda, Eunice Mureithi, Nyimvua Shaban, Thadei Sagamiko
KEYWORDS:
Predator-Prey System, Over-Harvesting, Drought, Optimal Control
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.8 No.8,
August
31,
2018
ABSTRACT: In this paper, a two
species predator-prey model is developed where prey is affected by
over-harvesting and drought and predator is affected by drought. The intention
is to investigate the impact of over-harvesting and drought on predator-prey
system, and suggest control strategies to alleviate the problem of loss of prey
and predator species due to over-harvesting and drought. The control strategies
suggested are creation of reserve areas with restriction of harvesting for
controlling over-harvesting and construction of dams for mitigating drought
effects. The results obtained from theoretical and numerical simulation of the
predator-prey model with harvesting and drought without control strategies
showed that, both harvesting and drought affect the predator-prey population
negatively. However, the results obtained from numerical simulations of the
model with control measures showed that, the use of control strategies one at a
time encourages the increase of the prey and predator species to the optimal
population size. Furthermore, the best result is obtained when control
strategies, creation of reserve areas with restriction of harvesting and
construction of dams are applied simultaneously.