The Theory of Population Dynamics: Back to First Principles

Abstract

Models of population dynamics are based on the population size as the complete descriptor of the dynamic state. We can write this central assumption of traditional theory as follows:

$$\frac{1}{N}\frac{{dN}}{{dt}} = f(E)$$

where N is the population size; $\frac{1}{N}\frac{{dN}}{{dt}}$ is the relative growth rate (average number of surviving offspring per parent per unit of time); f (E) is a function of the environment with the understanding that population size itself might be one of the environmental parameters.