Predator-prey models with diffusion based on Luckinbill's experiment with Didinium and Paramecium

Abstract

The models discussed by Harrison [1], developed from Luckinbill's [2] experimental data with the inclusion of diffusion and with four different sets of initial conditions, are studied numerically. It is shown that the different initial conditions of the species populations give rise to different initial growth patterns. The various functional response terms used by Harrison for the given data are shown to play an important role in the extinction or sustained oscillations of the species populations.