WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Effects of Temperature Fluctuations on Oscillating Biological Systems

​
t
cycle
160.
population
n
init
10
d
2.5
ω
asym
0.4
k
ω
0.18
a
asym
0.9
k
a
0.04
temperature
T
0
20.
T
1
8.
ω
1
0.25
d
1
0.
T
2
2.
ω
2
0.1
d
2
0.
axes maxima
T
max
40.
a
max
0.8
t
max
150.
n
max
120.
T (°C)
t (arbitrary)
t (arbitrary)
This Demonstration simulates the possible effects of temperature fluctuations on the evolution of oscillating biological populations or systems. It is based on the assumptions that: the amplitude and frequency of the natural oscillation increase with temperature in the pertinent range; the momentary growth rate is the rate at the momentary temperature at the time that corresponds to population size or system state; and the temperature fluctuation pattern can be described by a sum of two sinusoidal terms.