Fig. 5.

Importance of the number of surface-type patches. While sensitivity analyses indicate the model to be robust to interaction or transmission values, the total number of patches within a metapopulation is important to the system. Here, the number of possible patches on surfaces must be greater than 60 in order for the metapopulation to resist relatively rapid extinction. The simulations here concern a total of 20 patients and 80 surface patches resulting in only four patches per patient. A larger number of patches per patient can easily be envisioned. Note the Log scale on the Y-axis. Shaded area indicates ±1 SD