Practice question · Multiple choice
Rabbits and foxes : , . What does the term represent?
Hints
- If either population were zero, how often would a fox catch a rabbit? The term must vanish accordingly.
- A product of densities is the standard model for how often two randomly moving populations encounter each other.
Show the answer
B. Encounters between the two species
Why
The product counts meetings: doubling either population doubles encounters. It drains rabbits () and feeds foxes (), coupling the equations into the predator–prey cycles Lotka and Volterra made famous.
Practise Systems of Differential Equations
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