Competitive exclusion and coexistence in a model with age-structured resource

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce and analyse a model in which a shared, age-structured resource is exploited by two competing populations through age-dependent interaction kernels. It provides a general framework for studying resource-mediated competition in epidemiology, immunology and ecology. We use integrated semigroups theory to establish the well-posedness of the model and its fundamental properties, including positivity and the existence of a global attractor. Then, by means of Lyapunov functionals, persistence results and generalised LaSalle principle, we fully characterize the asymptotic dynamics in terms of the competitors's basic reproduction numbers and invasive fitnesses. Our results demonstrate that in addition to the classical competitive exclusion, the system can exhibit globally asymptotically stable coexistence, an outcome allowed by a mechanism of age-mediated niche partitioning.