Wavefronts and global stability in a time-delayed population model with stage structure

We formulate and study a one-dimensional single-species di¬usive-delay population model. The time delay is the time taken from birth to maturity. Without di¬usion, the delay di¬erential model extends the well-known logistic di¬erential equation by allowing delayed constant birth processes and instantaneous quadratically regulated death processes. This delayed model is known to have simple global dynamics similar to that of the logistic equation. Through the use of a sub/supersolution pair method, we show that the di¬usive delay model continues to generate simple global dynamics. This has the important biological implication that quadratically regulated death processes dramatically simplify the growth dynamics. We also consider the possibility of travelling wavefront solutions of the scalar equation for the mature population, connecting the zero solution of that equation with the positive steady state. Our main ­ nding here is that our fronts appear to be all monotone, regardless of the size of the delay. This is in sharp contrast to the frequently reported ­ ndings that delay causes a loss of monotonicity, with the front developing a prominent hump in some other delay models.