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Predator–prey interactions do not solely depend on biotic factors: rather, they depend on many other abiotic factors also. One such abiotic factor is wind speed, which can crucially change the predation efficiency of the predator population. In this article, the impact of wind speed along with seasonality on various parameters has been investigated. Here, we present two continuous-time models with specialist and generalist type predators incorporating the effect of wind and the seasonality on the model parameters. It has been observed that wind speed plays a significant role in controlling the system dynamics for both systems. It makes the systems stable for both of the seasonally unperturbed systems. However, it controls the chaotic dynamics that occur in case of no wind for the seasonally perturbed system with the predator as a specialist. On the other hand, for the seasonally perturbed system with a generalist predator, it controls period-four oscillations (which occur considering no wind speed) to simple limit-cycle oscillations. Furthermore, the wind parameter has a huge impact on the survival of predator species. The survival of predator species may be achieved by ensuring a suitable range of wind speeds in the ecosystem. Therefore, we observe that seasonality introduces chaos, but wind reduces it. These results may be very useful for adopting necessary management for the conservation of endangered species that are massively affected by wind speed in an ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchronization of food chain models is an intensely investigated area in dynamical systems. Two pioneering models in three species food chain systems exhibiting chaotic dynamics are the Hastings and Powell (HP) model and the Upadhyay and Rai (UR) model. These are known to synchronize, even though the top predators in the two models behave differently. In the current manuscript, we show that although the HP and UR models synchronize for certain initial conditions, they do not synchronize for arbitrarily large initial conditions due to the blow-up dynamics present in the UR model. Thus, the synchronization of these model systems is purely a local (in initial data) phenomenon. Interestingly, we find that a similar result holds for the modified UR model as well, which has global in-time solutions for any positive initial condition. Thus, the lack of synchrony could also be attributed to the difference in the top predator's feeding preferences in the model systems. Our results have large-scale applications to population synchrony in tri-trophic food chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an attempt has been made to understand the role of predator's interference and additional food on the dynamics of a diffusive population model. We have studied a predator–prey interaction system with mutually interfering predator by considering additional food and Crowley–Martin functional response (CMFR) for both the reaction–diffusion model and associated spatially homogeneous system. The local stability analysis ensures that as the quantity of alternative food decreases, predator-free equilibrium stabilizes. Moreover, we have also obtained a condition providing a threshold value of additional food for the global asymptotic stability of coexisting steady state. The nonspatial model system changes stability via transcritical bifurcation and switches its stability through Hopf-bifurcation with respect to certain ranges of parameter determining the quantity of additional food. Conditions obtained for local asymptotic stability of interior equilibrium solution of temporal system determines the local asymptotic stability of associated diffusive model. The global stability of positive equilibrium solution of diffusive model system has been established by constructing a suitable Lyapunov function and using Green's first identity. Using Harnack inequality and maximum modulus principle, we have established the nonexistence of nonconstant positive equilibrium solution of the diffusive model system. A chain of patterns on increasing the strength of additional food as spots → stripes → spots has been obtained. Various kind of spatial-patterns have also been demonstrated via numerical simulations and the roles of predator interference and additional food are established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a Gause-type model system consisting of two prey and one predator. Gestation period is considered as the time delay for the conversion of both the prey and predator. Bobcats and their primary prey rabbits and squirrels, found in North America and southern Canada, are taken as an example of an ecological system. It has been observed that there are stability switches and the system becomes unstable due to the effect of time delay. Positive invariance, boundedness, and local stability analysis are studied for the model system. Conditions under which both delayed and nondelayed model systems remain globally stable are found. Criteria which guarantee the persistence of the delayed model system are derived. Conditions for the existence of Hopf bifurcation at the nonzero equilibrium point of the delayed model system are also obtained. Formulae for the direction, stability, and period of the bifurcating solution are conducted using the normal form theory and center manifold theorem. Numerical simulations have been shown to analyze the effect of each of the parameters considered in the formation of the model system on the dynamic behavior of the system. The findings are interesting from the application point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predator's management requires a detailed understanding of the ecological circumstances associated with predation. Predation by foxes has been a significant contributor to the Australian native animal reduction. This paper mainly focuses on the dissemination of rabbit hemorrhagic disease in the rabbit population and its subsequences on red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) population, by qualitative and quantitative analyses of a designed eco-epidemiological model with simple law of mass action and sigmoid functional response. Existence of solution has been analyzed and shown to be uniformly bounded. The basic reproduction number ( R 0 ) is obtained and the occurrence of a backward bifurcation at R 0 = 1 is shown to be possible using central manifold theory. Global stability of endemic equilibrium is established by geometric approach. Criteria for diffusion-driven ecological instability caused by local random movements of European rabbits and red fox are obtained. Detailed analyses of Turing patterns formation selected by reaction-diffusion system under zero flux boundary conditions are presented. We found that transmission rate, self and cross-diffusion coefficients have appreciable influence on spatial spread of epidemics. Numerical simulation results confirm the analytical finding and generate patterns which indicate that population of red foxes might be controlled if rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is introduced into the rabbit population and thus ecological balance can be maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predator-prey communities are building blocks of an ecosystem. Feeding rates reflect interference between predators in several situations, e.g. when predators form a dense colony or perform collective motion in a school, encounter prey in a region of limited size, etc. We perform spatio-temporal dynamics and pattern formation in a model aquatic system in both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. Zooplanktons are predated by fishes and interfere with individuals of their own community. Numerical simulations are carried out to explore Turing and non-Turing spatial patterns. We also examine the effect of spatial heterogeneity on the spatio-temporal dynamics of the phytoplankton-zooplankton system. The phytoplankton specific growth rate is assumed to be a linear function of the depth of the water body. It is found that the spatio-temporal dynamics of an aquatic system is governed by three important factors: (i) intensity of interference between the zooplankton, (ii) rate of fish predation and (iii) the spatial heterogeneity. In an homogeneous environment, the temporal dynamics of prey and predator species are drastically different. While prey species density evolves chaotically, predator densities execute a regular motion irrespective of the intensity of fish predation. When the spatial heterogeneity is included, the two species oscillate in unison. It has been found that the instability observed in the model aquatic system is diffusion driven and fish predation acts as a regularizing factor. We also observed that spatial heterogeneity stabilizes the system. The idea contained in the paper provides a better understanding of the pattern formation in aquatic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We construct a Leslie-Gower type prey-predator system with feedback. • We systematically analyze the effects of feedback controls on the dynamics of ecosystems. • Pattern transition emerges as feedback intensity varies. In this study, we investigate the global dynamics of non-autonomous and autonomous systems based on the Leslie–Gower type model using the Beddington–DeAngelis functional response (BDFR) with time-independent and time-dependent model parameters. Unpredictable disturbances are introduced in the forms of feedback control variables. BDFR explains the feeding rate of the predator as functions of both the predator and prey densities. The global stability of the unique positive equilibrium solution of the autonomous model is determined by defining an appropriate Lyapunov function. The condition obtained for the global stability of the interior equilibrium ensures that the global stability is free from control variables, which is also a significant issue in the ecological balance control procedure. The autonomous system exhibits complex dynamics via bifurcation scenarios, such as period doubling bifurcation. We prove the existence of a globally stable almost periodic solution of the associated non-autonomous model. The different coefficients of the system are taken as almost periodic functions by generalizing periodic assumptions. The permanence of the non-autonomous system is established by defining upper and lower averages of a function. Our results also explain how the important hypothesis in ecology known as the "intermediate disturbance hypothesis" applies in predator–prey interactions. We show that moderate feedback intensity can make both the ordinary differential equation system and partial differential equation system more robust. The results obtained provide new insights into the protection of populations, where moderate feedback intensity can promote the coexistence of species and adjusting the intensity of the feedback in appropriate regions can control the population biomass while maintaining the stability of the system. Finally, the results obtained from extensive numerical simulations support the analytical results as well as the usefulness of the present study in terms of ecological balance and bio-control problems in agro-ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]