  Metapopulations are models of ecological systems, describing the interactions
and the behavior of populations that live in fragmented habitats. In this
paper, we present a model of metapopulations based on the multivolume
simulation algorithm tau-DPP, a stochastic class of membrane systems, that we
utilize to investigate the influence that different habitat topologies can have
on the local and global dynamics of metapopulations. In particular, we focus
our analysis on the migration rate of individuals among adjacent patches, and
on their capability of colonizing the empty patches in the habitat. We compare
the simulation results obtained for each habitat topology, and conclude the
paper with some proposals for other research issues concerning metapopulations.
