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. 2025 Sep 22;14(9):1308.
doi: 10.3390/biology14091308.

Mathematical Modeling of Population Dynamics of Pollinators: A Survey

Fernando Huancas  1 , Anibal Coronel  2 , Esperanza Lozada  2 , Jorge Torres  2
Affiliations

Mathematical Modeling of Population Dynamics of Pollinators: A Survey

Fernando Huancas et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a systematic review of the existing literature on the mathematical modeling of several aspects of pollinators. We selected the MathSciNet and Wos databases and performed a search for the words "pollinator" and "mathematical model". This search yielded a total of 236 records. After a detailed screening process, we retained 107 publications deemed most relevant to the topic of mathematical modeling in pollinator systems. We conducted a bibliometric analysis and categorized the studies based on the mathematical approaches used as the central tool in the mathematical modeling and analysis. The mathematical theories used to obtain the mathematical models were ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, graph theory, difference equations, delay differential equations, stochastic equations, numerical methods, and other types of theories, like fractional order differential equations. Meanwhile, the topics were positive bounded solutions, equilibrium and stability analysis, bifurcation analysis, optimal control, and numerical analysis. We summarized the research findings and identified some challenges that could inform the direction of future research, highlighting areas that will aid in the development of future research.

Keywords: pesticides; plant–pollinator interaction; pollinators.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic summary of the process used for identifying the relevant work (see Section 2).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of works in MathSciNet and the WoS related to the keywords “pollinators” and “mathematical models”. (a) Number of articles by year from 1978 to 2025. (b) Number of articles by decade.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentages of the number of authors according to the geographic locations declared by the authors. We rounded off all percentages to their integers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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