Analysis of an efficient integrator for a size-structured population model with a dynamical resource

In this paper, an efficient numerical method for the approximation of a nonlinear size-structured population model is presented. The nonlinearity of the model is given by dependency on the environment through the consumption of a dynamical resource. We analyse the properties of the numerical scheme and optimal second-order convergence is derived. We report experiments with academical tests to demonstrate numerically the predicted accuracy of the scheme. The model is applied to solve a biological problem: the dynamics of an ectothermic population (the water flea, Daphnia magna). We analyse its long time evolution and describe the asymptotically stable steady states, both equilibria and limit cycles. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.