Bifurcation Dynamics and Pattern Formation of a Three-Species Food Chain System with Discrete Spatiotemporal Variables

Abstract

Abstract The bifurcation dynamics and pattern formation of a discrete-time three-species food chain system with Beddington–DeAngelis functional response are investigated. Via applying the centre manifold theorem and bifurcation theorems, the occurrence conditions for flip bifurcation and Neimark–Sacker bifurcation as well as Turing instability are determined. Numerical simulations verify the theoretical results and reveal many interesting dynamic behaviours. The flip bifurcation and the Neimark–Sacker bifurcation both induce routes to chaos, on which we find period-doubling cascades, invariant curves, chaotic attractors, sub–Neimark–Sacker bifurcation, sub–flip bifurcation, chaotic interior crisis, sub–period-doubling cascade, periodic windows, sub–periodic windows, and various periodic behaviours. Moreover, the food chain system exhibits various self-organized patterns, including regular and irregular patterns of stripes, labyrinth, and spiral waves, suggesting the populations can coexist in space as many spatiotemporal structures. These analysis and results provide a new perspective into the complex dynamics of discrete food chain systems.