Turing pattern formation in a three species model with generalist predator and cross-diffusion

In a natural ecosystem, specialist predators feed almost exclusively on one species of prey. But generalist predators feed on many types of species. Consequently, their dynamics is not coupled to the dynamics of a specific prey population. However, the defense of prey formed by congregating made the predator tend to move in the direction of lower concentration of prey species. This is described by cross-diffusion in a generalist predator–prey model. First, the positive equilibrium solution is globally asymptotically stable for the ODE system and for the reaction–diffusion system without cross-diffusion, respectively, hence it does not belong to the classical Turing instability scheme. But it becomes linearly unstable only when cross-diffusion also plays a role. This implies that cross–diffusion can lead to the occurrence and disappearance of the instability. Our results exhibit some interesting combining effects of cross-diffusion, predations and intra-species interactions. Furthermore, we consider the existence and non-existence results concerning non-constant positive steady states (patterns) of the system. We demonstrate that cross-diffusion can create non-constant positive steady-state solutions.     

Ecoepidemic models with disease incubation and selective hunting

In this paper we consider ecoepidemic models in which the basic demographics is represented by predator-prey interactions, with the disease modeled by an SEI system. At first we consider a basic Lotka-Volterra type of interaction. Then we also introduce competition for resources among individuals of the prey population. Several variations of the model are presented, in which the prey intra-specific population pressure assumes different forms, depending on the virulence of the disease. Indeed, the latter may affect the exposed and infected individuals so much that they may not be able to compete with the sound ones for resources. A further distinguishing feature of this investigation lies in the way in which the predator actively selects the prey for hunting. For instance in some cases predators may discard the diseased ones, as less palatable, while in other situations they would instead search expressly for the infected, since these are weaker individuals and thus easier to hunt. The equilibria of the systems are analyzed, showing that in some cases bifurcations arise, contrary to what happens to similar classical Holling type I ecoepidemic models. These persistent oscillations seem to be triggered by the number of subpopulations present in the system, which is larger than those introduced in the former models, counting also the latent class. Furthermore, adding predation to an SEI epidemic model has profound effects on the stability of its equilibria. In particular, once the predators are introduced into an SEI epidemic at a stable endemic equilibrium, their presence destabilizes this equilibrium making the previous stable conditions unrecoverable.     

A safe harbor can protect an endangered species from its predators

The objective is the study of the dynamics of a prey–predator model where the prey species can migrate between two patches. The specialist predator is confined to the first patch, where it consumes the prey following the simple law of mass action. The prey is further “endangered” in that it suffers from the strong Allee effect, assumed to occur due to the lowering of successful matings. In the second patch the prey grows logistically. The model is formulated in a comprehensive way so as to include specialist as well as generalist predators, as a continuum of possible behaviors. This model described by a set of three ordinary differential equation is an extension of some previous models proposed and analysed in the literature on metapopulation models. The following analysis issues will be addressed: boundedness of the solution, equilibrium feasibility and stability, and dynamic behaviour dependency of the population and environmental parameters. Three types for both equilibria and limit cycles are possible: trivial, predator-free and coexistence. Classical analysis techniques are used and also theoretical and numerical bifurcation analysis. Besides the well-known local bifurcations, also a homoclinic connection as a global bifurcation is calculated. In view of the difficulty in the analysis, only the specialist case will be analysed. The obtained results indicate that the safe harbor can protect the endangered species under certain parametric restrictions.

     

Stability and bifurcation analysis of a prey–predator model with age based predation

It is observed that in large animals only adult predators take part in direct predation while suckling feed on milk of adult predators and juveniles are dependent on the dead prey stock killed by the adult predators. Some parts of the dead prey population is consumed by adult predators and remaining parts are consumed by juveniles and the remaining portion decays naturally. In light of this, a mathematical model is proposed to study the stability and bifurcation behaviour of a prey–predator system with age based predation. All the feasible equilibria of the system are obtained and the conditions for the existence of the interior equilibrium are determined. The local stability analysis of all the feasible equilibria is carried out and the possibility of Hopf-bifurcation of the interior equilibrium is studied. Finally, numerical simulation is conducted to support the analytical results.     

Reflections and calculations on a prey-predator-patch problem

This paper is concerned with models for the interaction of plants, herbivores and their predators. We concentrate on situations in which local colonies of herbivores either over-exploit their host plant or are driven to extinction by predators. Starting from a complicated structured model, in which the local prey and predator density within patches is taken into account, we use time scale arguments to derive a three dimensional system of ordinary differential equations. The simplified system is analysed and the existence of multiple stable steady states is demonstrated.     

A delay digestion process with application in a three-species ecosystem

In a natural ecosystem, specialist predators feed almost exclusively on one specific species of prey which may be possible for a parasitoid. But generalist predators feed on many types of species. It is also well known that the predation rate increases as prey density rises, but eventually levels off due to the predator’s handling time. The response function, thereby, is often assumed to Holling II functional response. In addition, digestion processes of the predation often involve reactions with delays. In view of these facts, a three-species ecosystem with a delay digestion process and Holling functional response is formulated. By analyzing the corresponding characteristic equations, the stability of the equilibria is investigated. Furthermore, Hopf bifurcations occurring at the positive equilibrium under some conditions are demonstrated. The consequence of global stability of the positive equilibrium is that predation will not irreversibly change the system. That is, as long as preys are not made extinct by excessive predation of their predator, the system is able to recover. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate our theoretical results. Meanwhile, they indicate that time delay is harmless for permanence of populations even thought it has a tendency to produce oscillations.     

Effect of emergent carrying capacity in an eco‐epidemiological system

The paper explores an eco‐epidemiological model of a predator–prey type, where the prey population is subject to infection. The model is basically a combination of S‐I type model and a Rosenzweig–MacArthur predator–prey model. The novelty of this contribution is to consider different competition coefficients within the prey population, which leads to the emergent carrying capacity. We explicitly separate the competition between non‐infected and infected individuals. This emergent carrying capacity is markedly different to the explicit carrying capacities that have been considered in many eco‐epidemiological models. We observed that different intra‐class and inter‐class competition can facilitate the coexistence of susceptible prey‐infected prey–predator, which is impossible for the case of the explicit carrying capacity model. We also show that these findings are closely associated with bi‐stability. The present system undergoes bi‐stability in two different scenarios: (a) bi‐stability between the planner equilibria where susceptible prey co‐exists with predator or infected prey and (b) bi‐stability between co‐existence equilibrium and the planner equilibrium where susceptible prey coexists with infected prey; have been discussed. The conditions for which the system is to be permanent and the global stability of the system around disease‐free equilibrium are worked out. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global boundedness and stability of solutions for prey-taxis model with handling and searching predators

In this paper, we show the global boundedness and stability of solutions for prey-taxis model with handling and searching predators in a two-dimensional bounded domain with smooth boundary. First, entropy-like equations and boundedness criteria are derived, and it is proved that the system has a unique uniformly bounded global classical solution. In addition, we show that prey-only steady state is globally asymptotically stable if the predator is weak. The convergence rate of solutions to the steady states is derived in the paper.     

Dynamics of a ratio‐dependent stage‐structured predator‐prey model with delay

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of a time‐delay ratio‐dependent predator‐prey model with stage structure for the predator. This predator‐prey system conforms to the realistically biological environment. The existence and stability of the positive equilibrium are thoroughly analyzed, and the sufficient and necessary conditions for the stability and instability of the positive equilibrium are obtained for the case without delay. Then, the influence of delay on the dynamics of the system is investigated using the geometric criterion developed by Beretta and Kuang. 26 We show that the positive steady state can be destabilized through a Hopf bifurcation and there exist stability switches under some conditions. The formulas determining the direction and the stability of Hopf bifurcations are explicitly derived by using the center manifold reduction and normal form theory. Finally, some numerical simulations are performed to illustrate and expand our theoretical results.     

A cannibalistic eco-epidemiological model with disease in predator population

In this present article, we propose and analyze a cannibalistic predator–prey model with disease in the predator population. We consider two important factors for the dynamics of predator population. The first one is governed through cannibalistic interaction, and the second one is governed through the disease in the predator population via cannibalism. The local stability analysis of the model system around the biologically feasible equilibria are investigated. We perform global dynamics of the model using Lyapunov functions. We analyze and compare the community structure of the system in terms of ecological and disease basic reproduction numbers. The existence of Hopf bifurcation around the interior steady state is investigated. We also derive the sufficient conditions for the permanence and impermanence of the system. The study reveals that the cannibalism acts as a self-regulatory mechanism and controls the disease transmission among the predators by stabilizing the predator–prey oscillations.     

Dynamics of a stochastic three species prey-predator model with intraguild predation

Intraguild predation is ubiquitous in many ecological communities. This paper is concerned with a stochastic three species prey-predator model with intraguild predation. The model involves a prey, an intermediate predator which preys on only prey and an omnivorous top predator which preys on both prey and intermediate predator. First, we show the existence of a unique positive global solution of the model. Then we mainly establish the sufficient conditions for the extinction and persistence in the mean of each population. Moreover, we show that the model is stable in distribution. Finally, some numerical simulations are given to illustrate the main results.     

A discrete-time model with non-monotonic functional response and strong Allee effect in prey

In this paper, we investigate the impact of strong Allee effect on the stability of a discrete-time predator–prey model with a non-monotonic functional response. The dynamics of discrete-time predator–prey models with strong Allee effect is studied earlier. But, the mathematical investigations of predator–prey dynamics in discrete-time set up with Holling type-IV functional response and strong Allee effect in prey are lacking. The proposed model supports the coexistence of two steady states, and the mathematical features of the model are analyzed based on local stability and bifurcation theory. By considering the Allee parameter as the bifurcation parameter, we provide sufficient conditions for the flip and the Neimark–Sacker bifurcations. We observe that Allee parameter plays a significant role in the dynamics of the system.     

A simple Gause‐type predator–prey model considering social predation

The consumer–resource relationships are among the most fundamental of all ecological relationships and have been the focus of ecology since its beginnings. Usually are described by nonlinear differential equation systems, putting the emphasis in the effect of antipredator behavior (APB) by the prey; nevertheless, a minor quantity of articles has considered the social behavior of predators. In this work, two predator–prey models derived from the Volterra model are analyzed, in which the equation of predators is modified considering cooperation or collaboration among predators. It is well known that competition among predators produces a stabilizing effect on system describing the model, since there exists a wide set in the parameter space where the system has a unique equilibrium point in the phase plane, which is globally asymptotically stable. Meanwhile, the cooperation can originate more complex and unusual dynamics. As we will show, it is possible to prove that for certain subset of parameter values the predator population sizes tend to infinite when the prey population goes to extinct. This apparently contradicts the idea of a realistic model, when it is implicitly assumed that the predators are specialist, ie, the prey is its unique source of food. However, this could be a desirable effect when the prey constitutes a plague. To reinforce the analytical result, numerical simulations are presented.     

Influence of prey reserve in a prey–predator fishery

The excessive and unsustainable exploitation of marine resources has to led to the promotion of marine reserve as a fisheries management tool. In this paper we study a prey–predator system in a two-patch environment: one accessible to both prey and predators (patch 1) and the other one being a refuge for the prey (patch 2). The prey refuge (patch 2) constitutes a reserve zone of prey and fishing is not permitted, while the unreserved zone area is an open-access fishery zone. The existence of possible steady states, along with their local and global stability, is discussed. We then examine the possibilities of the existence of bionomic equilibrium. An optimal harvesting policy is given using Pontryagin’s maximum principle.     

MULTISPECIES AND SINGLE‐SPECIES MODELS OF FISH POPULATION DYNAMICS: COMPARING PARAMETER ESTIMATES

Abstract Population features inferred from single‐species, age‐structured models are compared to those inferred from a multispecies, age‐structured model that includes predator‐prey interactions among three commercially harvested fish species—walleye pollock, Atka mackerel, and Pacific cod—on the Aleutian Shelf, Alaska. The multispecies framework treats the single‐species models and data as a special case of the multispecies model and data. The same data from fisheries and surveys are used to estimate model parameters for both single‐species and multispecies configurations of the model. Additionally, data from stomach samples and predator rations are used to estimate the parameters of the multispecies model. One form of the feeding functional response, predator pre‐emption, was selected using AIC from seven alternative models for how the predation rate changes with the densities of prey and possibly other predators. Differences in estimated population dynamics and productivity between the multispecies and single‐species models were observed. The multispecies model estimated lower mackerel population sizes from 1964–2003 than the single‐species model, while the spawning biomass of pollock was estimated to have declined more than three times faster since 1964 by the multispecies model. The variances around the estimates of spawning biomass were smaller for mackerel and larger for pollock in the multispecies model compared to the single‐species model.     

Loops and branches of coexistence states in a Lotka-Volterra competition model

A two-species Lotka-Volterra competition-diffusion model with spatially inhomogeneous reaction terms is investigated. The two species are assumed to be identical except for their interspecific competition coefficients. Viewing their common diffusion rate μ as a parameter, we describe the bifurcation diagram of the steady states, including stability, in terms of two real functions of μ. We also show that the bifurcation diagram can be rather complicated. Namely, given any two positive integers l and b, the interspecific competition coefficients can be chosen such that there exist at least l bifurcating branches of positive stable steady states which connect two semi-trivial steady states of the same type (they vanish at the same component), and at least b other bifurcating branches of positive stable steady states that connect semi-trivial steady states of different types.     

Disease‐selective predation may lead to prey extinction

In real world bio‐communities, predational choice plays a key role to the persistence of the prey population. Predator's ‘sense’ of choice for predation towards the infected and noninfected prey is an important factor for those bio‐communities. There are examples where the predator can distinguish the infected prey and avoids those at the time of predation. Based on the examples, we propose two mathematical models and observe the dynamics of the systems around biologically feasible equilibria. For disease‐selective predation model there is a high risk of prey extinction. On the other hand, for non‐disease selective predation both populations co‐exist. Local stability analysis and global stability analysis of the positive interior equilibrium are performed. Moreover, conditions for the permanence of the system are obtained. Finally, we conclude that strictly disease‐selective predation may not be acceptable for the persistence of the prey population. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Challenges of living in the harsh environments: A mathematical modeling study

We propose and analyze a mathematical model, which mimics community dynamics of plants and animals in harsh environments. The mathematical model exploits type IV functional responses whose idiosyncrasies have been recognized only in recent years. The interaction of the middle predator with the top predator is cast into Leslie-Gower scheme. Linear and non-linear stability analyses are performed to get an idea of the stability behavior of the model food chain. It turns out that carrying capacity of the prey and the immunity parameter of the middle predator are two crucial parameters governing the model. Availability of alternative food options to the generalist predator also plays a key role in deciding the model dynamics.Simulation runs performed on this model provide insight into population dynamics of monkeys of macaque family found in northern Japan. These monkeys are social animals which reproduce sexually. The characteristic feature of the model dynamics is that the generalist predator (macaque monkeys) is able to avoid impending extinction frequently and recovers at a rate which falsify threats from exogenous external forces; extreme weather conditions, etc.     

Dynamical analysis of a delayed singular prey–predator economic model with stochastic fluctuations

This article studies a delayed singular prey–predator economic model with stochastic fluctuations, which is described by differential‐algebraic equations due to a economic theory. Local stability and Hopf bifurcation condition are described on the delayed singular prey–predator economic model within deterministic environment. It reveals the sensitivity of the model dynamics on gestation time delay. A phenomenon of Hopf bifurcation occurs as the gestation time delay increases through a certain threshold. Subsequently, a singular stochastic prey–predator economic model with time delay is obtained by introducing Gaussian white noise terms to the above deterministic model system. The fluctuation intensity of population and harvest effort are calculated by Fourier transforms method. Numerical simulations are carried out to substantiate these theory analysis. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 19: 23–29, 2014