Models of plant population growth and analogies with reaction kinetics

Examining Holocene pollen curves in the light of models of population increase and decrease can shed light on mechanisms of change. Two models of population change are considered: dN₁/dt = k₁N₁ (model 1) and dN₁/dt = k₂N₂ (model 2). Model is the classic exponential growth model. Model 2 is in use in reaction kinetics. Reaction kinetics and population growth are both special cases of a general problem of the "growth of material aggregates" (Lotka, 1907). The development of model 2 type equations in reaction kinetics has parallels in population growth which should be pursued. Holocene fine resolution pollen analysis offers particularly attractive data for this. Considering immigration and competition of tree taxa during the Holocene as "reactions" leads to insights about the mechanisms of change, because the rate of change of populations is a function of the mechanism of change.