https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06476-w
Regular Article
Regime shift and unbounded price in ecological–economic models: an interplay between harvesting and demand functions
1
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, SSSIHL, 515134, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India
2
Department of Mathematics, Centre for Mathematical Biology and Ecology, Jadavpur University, 700032, Kolkata, India
Received:
1
April
2025
Accepted:
25
May
2025
Published online:
16
June
2025
Mathematical models have used various harvesting strategies and demand functions to comprehend the dynamics of various ecological systems. This study examines socio-ecological–economic models incorporating diverse harvesting and demand functions to evaluate and compare their dynamic behaviors and implications for sustainable resource use. It reveals that for every pair of harvesting and nonconstant demand functions, the system may transcritically bifurcate from a bioeconomic equilibrium state to a noneconomic equilibrium state. However, a saddle-node bifurcation may be seen in some particular combinations of harvesting and demand functions, leading to a catastrophic regime transition with unbounded prices. This study also finds specific demand/supply combinations where harvesting effort and net revenue are subject to an economic trade-off. The examination of the optimal harvesting policy indicates that the existence of a trade-off is dictated by the demand function rather than the harvesting function. Another novel observation is that the CPUE harvesting rate always requires the least effort to reach the maximum economic yield (MEY) whenever the trade-off occurs, offering practical insights for fisheries management and renewable resource policies. Furthermore, the examination of socio-ecological–economic equilibrium demonstrates that it sustains a higher effort level, which would not be achievable without incorporating the economic equilibrium component. These results provide a mathematical framework for achieving sustainable resource use by balancing economic productivity with long-term ecological stability.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
