Competitive exclusion and coexistence in an intraguild predation model with Beddington–DeAngelis functional response

Abstract

Competitive exclusion is a phenomenon that often occurs in ecology when two species compete for the same limited resource, while coexistence of predator and prey is required to sustain a predator–prey system. It is of great interest to examine if coexistence of intraguild predator and prey is possible when they are competing for the same resource. In this paper, we study competitive exclusion and coexistence in an intraguild predation model that incorporates species’ mutual interference characterized by a Beddington–DeAngelis functional response. We derive conditions for competitive exclusion and conditions for coexistence of intraguild predator and prey. This is achieved by discussing the existence, local and global stability of all feasible equilibria and uniform persistence. Numerical simulations are carried out to explore effects of intraguild predator interference and intraguild predation strength on the coexistence modes of intraguild predator and prey.