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.