The Study of Combined Effect of Delay Induced by Acid and Toxic Metal on Plant Population: A Modeling Approach

Abstract

A mathematical framework is put forward to study the combined effect of acid and toxic metal on plant population growth with delay. It is supposed that the rate at which the nutrient is taken up by the plant from the soil is adversely affected in the excessive availability of acid and toxic metal. It is also observed that the concentration of nutrient and the plant population density decreases due to the presence of acid and toxic metal. This effect is shown by considering the delay in state variable: favourable resources. The stability of the system gets disturbed by the introduction of delay parameter. For the critical value of delay parameter, Hopf bifurcation is also seen. The sensitivity of model solutions for different values of model parameters is established using sensitivity analysis. MATLAB code is used for simulation.