An Assessment of the Use of Stability Analyses in Population Ecology

(1) This paper evaluates the use of point stability analyses in ecological models by examining the stability properties of simple models with and without age structure incorporating the Nicholson-Bailey, Hassell-Varley and Frazer-Gilbert survivorship submodels. (2) A more complex cotton-boll weevil model using the same survivorship submodels is assessed via simulation. (3) The results of stability analyses appear to reflect the formulation, assumptions and parameter values of the models rather than testable field biology and questions the applicability of stability analyses to ecological models. (4) Simulation results using the cotton-boll weevil model suggest that the notion of 'equilibrium space' (see May 1973) is more realistic and appropriate.