Chemotactically induced search and defense strategies in a tritrophic system.

In this paper, we define an intraguild predation model of one-resource and two-predator, in which the mesopredator catched by a top predator, feeds on a resource that grows according to a logistic growth law; for both the meso and the top predator, Holling type II functional responses are considered. Predators and prey diffuse into a connected bounded region in R². Two scenarios are considered: 1. As a defense mechanism, the resource attracts the top predator that feeds on the mesopredator; 2. The top predator in search of food moves towards areas where the mesopredator population is increasing. Some general properties of the solutions of the model are proved. In addition, the results of the numerical simulations carried out to analyze the effect on the spatial distribution of the populations of the indirect defense mechanism of the first scenario are shown. This is contrasted with the results of the model simulations corresponding to the second scenario, in which the diffusion of the top predator is regulated by a tendency to move towards the mesopredator gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]