A metapopulation model with private property and a common pool

A metapopulation illustrated by barnacles has a spatial distribution and a two-stage life cycle in the model developed here. Space limits expansion. Introducing a profitable harvest activity of adults leads to harvest at only one site, a solution driven by biological increasing returns. The model is of interdisciplinary interest because the natural resource has common property characteristics in its larval stage, but a private property character in its adult stage. The model permits economic valuation of lost habitat. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.