Differential Equations 7

7.5 The Logistic Equation

The Logistic Model

3
 The Logistic Model
As we have discussed, a population often increases
exponentially in its early stages but levels off eventually and
approaches its carrying capacity because of limited
resources.

If P(t) is the size of the population at time t, we assume that

if P is small

This says that the growth rate is initially close to being

proportional to size.

In other words, the relative growth rate is almost constant

when the population is small.

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The Logistic Model
But we also want to reflect the fact that the relative growth
rate decreases as the population P increases and becomes
negative if P ever exceeds its carrying capacity M, the
maximum population that the environment is capable of
sustaining in the long run.

The simplest expression for the relative growth rate that

incorporates these assumptions is

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The Logistic Model
Multiplying by P, we obtain the model for population growth
known as the logistic differential equation:

Notice from Equation 1 that if P is small compared with M,

then P/M is close to 0 and so dP/dt  kP. However, if
P  M (the population approaches its carrying capacity),
then P/M  1, so dP/dt  0.

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The Logistic Model
We can deduce information about whether solutions
increase or decrease directly from Equation 1.

If the population P lies between 0 and M, then the right side

of the equation is positive, so dP/dt > 0 and the population
increases.

But if the population exceeds the carrying capacity (P > M),

then 1 – P/M is negative, so dP/dt < 0 and the population
decreases.

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Direction Fields

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 Example 1 – What a Direction Field Tells us about Solutions of the Logistic Equation

Draw a direction field for the logistic equation with k = 0.08

and carrying capacity M = 1000. What can you deduce about
the solutions?

Solution:
In this case the logistic differential equation is

A direction field for this equation is

shown in Figure 1. We show only
the first quadrant because negative
populations aren’t meaningful and
we are interested only in what Figure 1
Direction field for the logistic
happens after t = 0. equation in Example 1
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

The logistic equation is autonomous (dP/dt depends only

on P, not on t), so the slopes are the same along any
horizontal line.

As expected, the slopes are positive for 0 < P < 1000 and
negative for P > 1000.

The slopes are small when P is close to 0 or 1000 (the

carrying capacity).

Notice that the solutions move away from the equilibrium

solution P = 0 and move toward the equilibrium solution
P = 1000.
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

In Figure 2 we use the direction field to sketch solution

curves with initial populations P(0) = 100, P(0) = 400, and
P(0) = 1300.

Figure 2
Solution curves for the logistic equation in Example 1

Notice that solution curves that start below P = 1000 are

increasing and those that start above P = 1000 are
decreasing.
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

The slopes are greatest when P  500 and therefore the

solution curves that start below P = 1000 have inflection
points when P  500.

In fact we can prove that all solution curves that start below
P = 500 have an inflection point when P is exactly 500.

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Euler’s Method

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 Euler’s Method
Let’s use Euler’s method to obtain numerical estimates for
solutions of the logistic differential equation at specific times.

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Example 2
Use Euler’s method with step sizes 20, 10, 5, 1, and 0.1 to
estimate the population sizes P(40) and P(80), where P is
the solution of the initial-value problem

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Example 2 – Solution
With step size h = 20, t0 = 0, P0 = 100, and

we get,
t = 20: P1 = 100 + 20F(0, 100) = 244
t = 40: P2 = 244 + 20F(20, 244)  539.14
t = 60: P3 = 539.14 + 20F(40, 539.14)  936.69
t = 80: P4 = 936.69 + 20F(60, 936.69)  1031.57

Thus our estimates for the population sizes at times t = 40

and t = 80 are
P(40)  539 P(80)  1032
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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

For smaller step sizes we need to program a calculator or

computer. The table gives the results.

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Euler’s Method
Figure 3 shows a graph of the Euler approximations with step
sizes h = 10 and h = 1. We see that the Euler approximation
with h = 1 looks very much like the lower solution curve that
we drew using a direction field in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Figure 3
Solution curves for the logistic Euler approximations of the
equation in Example 1 solution curve in Example 2

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The Analytic Solution

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The Analytic Solution
The logistic equation (1) is separable and so we can solve it
explicitly. Since

we have

To evaluate the integral on the left side, we write

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The Analytic Solution
Using partial fractions, we get

This enables us to rewrite Equation 2:

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The Analytic Solution

where A = e–c. Solving Equation 3 for P, we get

so
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 The Analytic Solution
We find the value of A by putting t = 0 in Equation 3. If t = 0,
then P = P0(the initial population), so

Thus the solution to the logistic equation is

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The Analytic Solution
Using the expression for P(t) in Equation 4, we see that

which is to be expected.

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Example 3 – An Explicit Solution of the Logistic Equation

Write the solution of the initial value problem

and use it to find the population sizes P(40) and P(80). At

what time does the population reach 900?

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 Example 3 – Solution
The differential equation is a logistic equation with k = 0.08,
carrying capacity M = 1000, and initial population P0 = 100.
So Equation 4 gives the population at time t as

Thus

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

So the population sizes when t = 40 and 80 are

The population reaches 900 when

Solving this equation for t, we get

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

So the population reaches 900 when t is approximately 55.

As a check on our work, we

graph the population curve in
Figure 4 and observe where
it intersects the line P = 900.

The cursor indicates that t ≈ 55.

Figure 4

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Comparison of the Natural Growth
and Logistic Models

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Comparison of the Natural Growth and Logistic Models

In the 1930s the biologist G. F. Gause conducted an

experiment with the protozoan Paramecium and used a
logistic equation to model his data.

The table gives his daily count of the population of protozoa.

He estimated the initial relative growth rate to be 0.7944 and
the carrying capacity to be 64.

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Example 4
Find the exponential and logistic models for Gause’s data.
Compare the predicted values with the observed values and
comment on the fit.

Solution:
Given the relative growth rate k = 0.7944 and the initial
population P0 = 2, the exponential model is

P(t) = P0ekt = 2e0.7944t

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

Gause used the same value of k for his logistic model. [This
is reasonable because P0 = 2 is small compared with the
carrying capacity (M = 64). The equation

shows that the value of k for the logistic model is very close
to the value for the exponential model.]

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

Then the solution of the logistic equation in Equation 4 gives

where

So

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

We use these equations to calculate the predicted values

(rounded to the nearest integer) and compare them in the
following table.

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

We notice from the table and from the graph in Figure 5 that
for the first three or four days the exponential model gives
results comparable to those of the more sophisticated
logistic model.

For t  5, however, the

exponential model is
hopelessly inaccurate,
but the logistic model
fits the observations
reasonably well.
Figure 5

The exponential and logistic

models for the Paramecium data
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Other Models for Population
Growth

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Other Models for Population Growth
The Law of Natural Growth and the logistic differential
equation are not the only equations that have been
proposed to model population growth.

Two of the other models are modifications of the logistic

model. The differential equation

has been used to model populations that are subject to

“harvesting” of one sort or another. (Think of a population of
fish being caught at a constant rate.)
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Other Models for Population Growth
For some species there is a minimum population level m
below which the species tends to become extinct. (Adults
may not be able to find suitable mates.)

Such populations have been modeled by the differential

equation

where the extra factor, 1 – m/P, takes into account the

consequences of a sparse population.

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