Density Dependent Resource Budget Model for Alternate Bearing

Abstract

Alternate bearing, seen in many types of plants, is the variable yield with a strongly biennial pattern. In this paper, we introduce a new model for alternate bearing behavior. Similar to the well-known Resource Budget Model, our model is based on the balance between photosynthesis (carbon accumulation) and reproduction processes. We consider two novel features with our model, 1) the existence of a finite capacity in the trees resource reservoir and 2) the possibility of having low (but non-zero) yield when the trees energy level is low. We achieve the former using a density dependent resource accumulation function, and the latter by removing the concept of the well-defined threshold used in the Resource Budget Model. At the level of an individual tree, our model has a stable two-cycle solution, which is suitable to model plants in which the alternate bearing behavior is pronounced. We incorporate environmental stochasticity by adding two uncorrelated noise terms to the parameters of the model associated with the carbon accumulation and reproduction processes. Furthermore, we examine the models behavior on a system of two coupled trees with direct coupling. Unlike the coupled Resource Budget Model, for which the only stable solution is the out-of-phase solution, our model with diffusive coupling has stable in-phase period-2 solutions. This suggests that our model might serve to explain spatial synchrony on a larger scale.