Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1007/s00285-005-0352-4 J. Math. Biol. 52, 183–208 (2006) Mathematical Biology Manuela L. de Castro · Jacques A.L. Silva · Dagoberto A.R. Justo Stability in an age-structured metapopulation model Received: 20 March 2002 / Revised version: 16 April 2003 / Published online: 29 September 2005 – c  Springer-Verlag 2005 Abstract. We present a discrete model for a metapopulation of a single species with over- lapping generations. Based on the dynamical behavior of the system in absence of dispersal, we have shown that a migration mechanism which depends only on age can not stabilize a previously unstable homogeneous equilibrium, but can drive a stable uncoupled system to instability if the migration rules are strongly related to age structure. 1. Introduction In a great variety of species reproduction, survival and movement can be strongly correlated with age. Discrete time age structured models have received much atten- tion since the pioneering work of Leslie. An useful review of these models is presented in Caswell [4] while some fundamental questions such as stability, bifur- cations, oscillations and other dynamic features were investigated by Cushing [5], Levin and Goodyear [18], Silva and Hallam [24,25], Wilkan and Mjφlhas [26]. But despite the inclusion of reproduction and survival depending on age and den- sity-dependent mechanisms of regulation these models lack an essential feature: dispersal. During the past few years there has been a growing interest in studies of popu- lation models that include spatial movement. An interesting overview of the subject was presented in Hanski and Gilpin [8].A spatially explicit metapopulation model or simply metapopulation model consists of a model where space and time are discrete and the whole population is divided in isolated patches where reproduction and sur- vival takes place. These patches are surrounded by a hostile environment. Migration between nearby patches may occur either before or after the reproduction. The role of migration in metapopulation dynamics have been extensively studied, e.g., Has- tings [14], Lloyd [19], and Doebeli [7] who argued that dispersal can simplify the ensemble dynamics. Dispersal was shown to be correlated with persistence in linked host-parasitoid models [11], persistence in single species metapopulation models [1], and co-existence in linked systems of competing species [12]. Rohani et al. [21] M. L. de Castro, D. A. R. Justo: University of New Mexico, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Albuquerque NM 87131 USA. e-mail: manuela@math.unm.edu; djusto@math.unm.edu J. A. L. da Silva: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Departamento de Matem´ atica Pura e Aplicada, Av. Bento Gon¸ calves 9500, Porto Alegre-RS Brazil. e-mail: jaqx@mat.ufrgs.br Key words or phrases: metapopulation – age structure