Spontaneous emergence of spatial patterns in a predator-prey model

Authored by M V Carneiro, I C Charret

Date Published: 2007

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.76.061902

Sponsors: Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

We present studies for an individual based model of three interacting populations whose individuals are mobile in a two-dimensional lattice. We focus on the pattern formation in the spatial distributions of the populations. Also relevant is the relationship between pattern formation and features of the populations' time series. Our model displays both traveling wave solutions, clustering and uniform distributions, both related to the parameter values. We also observed that the regeneration rate, the parameter associated to the primary level of trophic chain, the plant, regulated the presence of predators, as well as the type of spatial configuration. This result corroborates the theory that the enrichment of prey can stabilize the predator-prey dynamic in more realistic models.
Tags
diffusion Chaos systems stability Cellular-automata Population-dynamics Paradox Enrichment