Dynamics of a stage-structured population model on an isolated lattice

In this paper we derive a stage-structured model for a single species on a finite one-dimensional lattice. There is no migration into or from the lattice. The resulting system of equations, to be solved for the total adult population on each patch, is a system of delay equations involving the maturation delay for the species, and the delay term is nonlocal involving the population on all patches. We prove that the model has a positivity preserving property. The main theorems of the paper are comparison principles for the cases when the birth function is increasing and when the birth function is a nonmonotone function. Using these theorems we prove results on the global stability of a positive equilibrium.