<text>This is the fraction by which the Deer population would increase each year in the absence of Cougars</text>
<val>100</val></cell>
<cell>
<cname>home</cname>
<text>This web allows us to examine the way the population of cougars and deer might vary in the Rocky Mountains given various assumptions.
The value pane of the cell &Cougars gives the number of mountain lions in a study area in a given period. The value pane of the cell &Deer gives the simultaneous population of Deer in the same area. The value area of the cell period gives the number of time periods since the beginning of the study. The formulae for computing the new values of Deer and Cougar were derived from differential equations common in predator-prey population models. See for example "Simple predator-prey systems" in the Biological Modelling Chapter of the Book: New Applications of Mathematics, edited by Christine Bondi, Penguin Books
Assumptions made by this model are:
1) If there were no Cougars, the Deer would increase without limit.
2) If there were no Deer, the Cougars would eventually die out.
3) The rate at which the Deer are killed is proportional to the product of the Deer and the Cougars.
4) The rate at which the Cougars increase is proportional to the product of the Cougar and Deer populations.