A new method for calculating net reproductive rate from graph reduction with applications to the control of invasive species.

Matrix models are widely used for demographic analysis of age and stage structured biological populations. Dynamic properties of the model can be summarized by the net reproductive rate R (0). In this paper, we introduce a new method to calculate and analyze the net reproductive rate directly from the life cycle graph of the matrix. We show, with examples, how our method of analysis of R (0) can be used in the design of strategies for controlling invasive species.