IMPULSIVE CONTROL OF AN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT MODEL WITH DISPERSAL BETWEEN PATCHES

Abstract

We consider a two-patch SI model of integrated pest management with dispersal of both susceptible and infective pests between patches. A biological control, consisting of the periodic release of infective pests and a chemical control, consisting of periodic and impulsive pesticide spraying, are employed in order to maintain the size of the pest population below an economically acceptable level. It is assumed that the spread of the disease which is inflicted on the pest population through the use of the biological control is characterized by a nonlinear force of infection expressed in an abstract form. A sufficient condition for the local stability of the susceptible pest-eradication periodic solution is found using Floquet theory for periodic systems of ordinary differential equations, an analysis of the influence of dispersal between patches being performed for several particular cases. Our numerical simulations indicate that an increase in the amount but not in the frequency of pesticide use may not result in control. We also show that patches which are stable in isolation can be destabilized by dispersal between patches.