Tritrophic Food Chain Model Research Articles

Synchrony in tritrophic food chain metacommunities

The synchronous behaviour of interacting communities is studied in this paper. Each community is described by a tritrophic food chain model, and the communities interact through a network with arbitrary topology, composed of patches and migration corridors. The analysis of the local synchronization properties (via the master stability function approach) shows that, if only one species can migrate, the dispersal of the consumer (i.e., the intermediate trophic level) is the most effective mechanism for promoting synchronization. When analysing the effects of the variations of demographic parameters, it is found that factors that stabilize the single community also tend to favour synchronization. Global synchronization is finally analysed by means of the connection graph method, yielding a lower bound on the value of the dispersion rate that guarantees the synchronization of the metacommunity for a given network topology.

Effect of Time-Delay on a Ratio-Dependent Food Chain Model

This paper aims to study the effect of time-delay on a tritrophic food chainmodel with Michaelis-Menten type ratio-dependent functional responses. Boundednessof the time-delayed system is established. A simple criterion for deterministic extinctionis derived. It has been shown that the time-delay may introduce instability in the systemthrough Hopf bifurcation. Computer simulations are carried out to explain the analyticalfindings. It is discussed how these ideas illuminate some of the observed properties ofreal populations in the field, and explores practical implications.

STABILITY ANALYSIS OF A TRITROPHIC FOOD CHAIN MODEL WITH AN ADAPTIVE PARAMETER FOR THE PREDATOR

Abstract The study of three‐species communities have become the focus of considerable attention, and because the studies of ecological communities start with their food web, we consider a tritrophic food chain model comprised of the prey, the predator, and the super‐predator. The classical assumption of the domino effect is supplemented with an adaptive parameter for the predator (in the absence of prey). Thus, the model exhibits an equilibrium with the predator‐top‐predator steady state, which is a saddle point. Dynamical behaviors such as boundedness, existence of periodic orbits, persistence, as well as stability are analyzed. The long‐term coexistence of the three interacting species is addressed, and the stability analysis of the model shows that the biologically most relevant equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable whenever it satisfies a certain criterion. Practical implications are explored and related to real populations.

Global Solutions for a Tritrophic Food Chain Model with Diffusion

Global Solutions for a Tritrophic Food Chain Model with Diffusion

Density Dependent Predator Death Prevalence Chaos in a Tri-trophic Food Chain Model

Ecological systems have all the properties to produce chaotic dynamics. To predict the chaotic behavior in an ecological system and its possible control mechanism is interesting. Aziz-Alaoui [1] considered a tri-trophic food-chain model with modified Leslie-Gower type growth rate for top-predator population and established the chaotic dynamics exhibited by the model system for a certain choice of parameter values. We have modified the said model by incorporating density dependent death rate for predator population. Our mathematical findings reveal the fact that there are two coexisting equilibrium points one of which is a source and the other one is a sink. The positive equilibrium point which is sink is actually globally asymptotically stable under certain parametric conditions. Numerical experiment analysis shows that the model system are capable to produce chaotic dynamics when the rate of intra specific completion is very low and chaotic dynamics disappears for a certain value of the rate of intra specific completion for predator species. Our results suggest that the consideration of density dependent death rate for predator species have the ability to control the chaotic dynamics.

Chaos in Ecology: The Topological Entropy of a Tritrophic Food Chain Model

An ecosystem is a web of complex interactions among species. With the purpose of understanding this complexity, it is necessary to study basic food chain dynamics with preys, predators and superpredators interactions. Although there is an elegant interpretation of ecological models in terms of chaos theory, the complex behavior of chaotic food chain systems is not completely understood. In the present work we study a specific food chain model from the literature. Using results from symbolic dynamics, we characterize the topological entropy of a family of logistic-like Poincaré return maps that replicates salient aspects of the dynamics of the model. The analysis of the variation of this numerical invariant, in some realistic system parameter region, allows us to quantify and to distinguish different chaotic regimes. This work is still another illustration of the role that the theory of dynamical systems can play in the study of chaotic dynamics in life sciences.

Analysis of a tritrophic food chain model

AbstractWe consider a tritrophic food chain model in which the classical assumption of the domino effect is supplemented with an adaptive parameter. Dynamical behaviours such as boundedness, existence of periodic orbits, persistence, as well as stability are analyzed. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Effect of time-delay on a food chain model

This paper aims to study the effect of discrete time-delay on a tritrophic food chain model with Holling type-II functional responses. Dynamical behaviours such as boundedness, stability, persistence and bifurcation of the model are studied. Our analytical findings are illustrated through computer simulation. Biological implications of our analytical findings are addressed critically.

RICH DYNAMICS OF A TIME-DELAYED FOOD CHAIN MODEL

Complex dynamics of a tritrophic food chain model is discussed in this paper. The model is composed of a logistic prey, a classical Lotka-Volterra functional response for prey-predator and a ratio-dependent functional response for predator-superpredator. Dynamical behaviors such as boundedness, stability and bifurcation of the model are studied critically. The effect of discrete time-delay on the model is investigated. Computer simulation of various solutions is presented to illustrate our mathematical findings. How these ideas illuminate some of the observed properties of real populations in the field is discussed and practical implications are explored.

Piecewise-Linear Approximation of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

The piecewise-linear (PWL) approximation technique developed by Julia/spl acute/n et al. in the past few years is applied to find approximate models of dynamical systems dependent on given numbers of state variables and parameters. Referring to some significant examples, i.e., topological normal forms, it is shown that a PWL dynamical system approximating a given smooth system can preserve its main features. In particular, if the approximation accuracy increases, the equivalence between approximating and approximated systems shifts from qualitative to quantitative. The validity of the proposed approach is eventually tested by use of a severe nonlinear example, i.e., the Rosenzweig-MacArthur system, which describes the population dynamics in a tritrophic food chain model.

Food chain chaos due to Shilnikov's orbit.

Assume that the reproduction rate ratio zeta of the predator over the prey is sufficiently small in a basic tri-trophic food chain model. This assumption translates the model into a singularly perturbed system of two time scales. It is demonstrated, as a sequel to the earlier paper of Deng [Chaos 11, 514-525 (2001)], that at the singular limit zeta=0, a singular Shilnikov's saddle-focus homoclinic orbit can exist as the reproduction rate ratio epsilon of the top-predator over the predator is greater than a modest value epsilon(0). The additional conditions under which such a singular orbit may occur are also explicitly given. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Belyakov Homoclinic Bifurcations in a Tritrophic Food Chain Model

Complex dynamics of the most frequently used tritrophic food chain model are investigated in this paper. First it is shown that the model admits a sequence of pairs of Belyakov bifurcations (codimension-two homoclinic orbits to a critical node). Then fold and period-doubling cycle bifurcation curves associated to each pair of Belyakov points are computed and analyzed. The overall bifurcation scenario explains why stable limit cycles and strange attractors with different geometries can coexist. The analysis is conducted by combining numerical continuation techniques with theoretical arguments.

Homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits to a cycle in a tri-trophic food chain

The asymptotic behavior of a tri-trophic food chain model is studied. The analysis is carried out numerically, by finding both local and global bifurcations of equilibria and limit cycles. The existence of transversal homoclinic orbits to a limit cycle is shown. The appearance of homoclinic orbits, by moving through a homoclinic bifurcation point, is associated with the sudden disappearance of a chaotic attractor. A homoclinic bifurcation curve, which bounds a region of extinction, is continued through a two-dimensional parameter space. Heteroclinic orbits from an equilibrium to a limit cycle are computed. The existence of these heteroclinic orbits has important consequences on the domains of attraction. Continuation of non-transversal heteroclinic orbits through parameter space shows the existence of two codimension-two bifurcations points, where the saddle cycle is non-hyperbolic. The results are summarized by dividing the parameter space in subregions with different asymptotic behavior.

Food Web Stability: The Influence of Trophic Flows across Habitats

In nature, fluxes across habitats often bring both nutrient and energetic resources into areas of low productivity from areas of higher productivity. These inputs can alter consumption rates of consumer and predator species in the recipient food webs, thereby influencing food web stability. Starting from a well-studied tritrophic food chain model, we investigated the impact of allochthonous inputs on the stability of a simple food web model. We considered the effects of allochthonous inputs on stability of the model using four sets of biologically plausible parameters that represent different dynamical outcomes. We found that low levels of allochthonous inputs stabilize food web dynamics when species preferentially feed on the autochthonous sources, while either increasing the input level or changing the feeding preference to favor allochthonous inputs, or both, led to a decoupling of the food chain that could result in the loss of one or all species. We argue that allochthonous inputs are important sources of productivity in many food webs and their influence needs to be studied further. This is especially important in the various systems, such as caves, headwater streams, and some small marine islands, in which more energy enters the food web from allochthonous inputs than from autochthonous inputs.

Food Chains in the Chemostat: Relationships Between Mean Yield and Complex Dynamics

A tritrophic food-chain chemostat model composed of a prey with Monod-type nutrient uptake, a Holling Type II predator and a Holling Type II exploited superpredator is considered in this paper. The bifurcations of the model show that dynamic complexity first increases and then decreases with the nutrient supplied to the bottom of the food chain. Extensive simulations prove that the same holds for food yield, i.e., there exists an optimum nutrient supply which maximizes mean food yield. Finally, a comparative analysis of the results points out that the optimum nutrient supply practically coincides with the nutrient supply separating chaotic dynamics from high-frequency cyclic dynamics. This reinforces the idea, already known for simpler models, that food yield maximization requires that the system behaves on the edge of chaos.

Food chain dynamics in the chemostat.

The asymptotic behavior of a tri-trophic food chain model in the chemostat is studied. The Monod-Herbert growth model is used for all trophic levels. The analysis is carried out numerically, by finding both local and global bifurcations of equilibria and of limit cycles with respect to two chemostat control parameters: the dilution rate of the chemostat and the concentration of input substrate. It is shown that the bifurcation structure of the food chain model has much in common with the bifurcation structure of a one-dimensional map with two turning points. This map is used to explain how attractors are created and destroyed under variation of the bifurcation parameters. It is shown that low as well as high concentration of input substrate can lead to extinction of the highest trophic level.

Food Web Stability: The Influence of Trophic Flows Across Habitats

In nature, fluxes across habitats often bring both nutrient and energetic resources into areas of low productivity from areas of higher productivity. These inputs can alter consumption rates of consumer and predator species in the recipient food webs, thereby influencing food web stability. Starting from a well‐studied tritrophic food chain model, we investigated the impact of allochthonous inputs on the stability of a simple food web model. We considered the effects of allochthonous inputs on stability of the model using four sets of biologically plausible parameters that represent different dynamical outcomes. We found that low levels of allochthonous inputs stabilize food web dynamics when species preferentially feed on the autochthonous sources, while either increasing the input level or changing the feeding preference to favor allochthonous inputs, or both, led to a decoupling of the food chain that could result in the loss of one or all species. We argue that allochthonous inputs are important sources of productivity in many food webs and their influence needs to be studied further. This is especially important in the various systems, such as caves, headwater streams, and some small marine islands, in which more energy enters the food web from allochthonous inputs than from autochthonous inputs.