A coupled des model for localized disturbances in tropical forests

Althought commercial selective logging is considered a sustainable practice, it creates gaps and disturbance into tropical forests that could alter the ecosystem dynamics. Weeds and vines grow to fill the empty space, following the arrival of the light. This invasion alter significantly the forest in the surroundings of the cut. Here we propose a mathematical model to describe the behaviour of tropical rainforest subject to selective logging. As a preliminary result, we show the solution profile of the model and its behaviour in simulated examples.