Simulating spatially and physiologically structured populations

Population dynamics are frequently the product of a subtle interplay between development and dispersal in an inhomogeneous environment. Simulations of spatially inhomogeneous populations with physiologically distinguishable individuals are a known source of numerical difficulty. This paper reports a new and highly efficient algorithm for this problem, whose accuracy we demonstrate by comparison with conventional numerical solutions of one-dimensional problems. As an illustration, we construct a two (space)-dimensional model of a copepod (Calanus finmarchicus) in the NE Atlantic, and demonstrate that its predictions correspond closely with those of an equivalent Lagrangian ensemble.