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A Real-Time Interactive System for Studying Confrontational Pursuit Behavior in Rodents

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Non-random spatial coupling induces desynchronization, chaos and multistability in a predator-prey-resource system.

Kenta Suzuki¹, Takehito Yoshida

¹Department of General Systems Sciences, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan. kens@sacral.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Journal of Theoretical Biology

|January 24, 2012

Summary

Dispersal of nutrients in three-trophic systems can lead to multiple stable states and complex population dynamics, including chaos. This nutrient dispersal broadens the conditions for multistability compared to simpler predator-prey models.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Theoretical Ecology
Metacommunity Dynamics

Background:

Understanding metacommunity dynamics is crucial, yet the impact of non-random dispersal on ecological interactions remains underexplored.
Previous studies on two-trophic systems showed multistability was limited to narrow dispersal rates.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how different dispersal methods affect ecological dynamics in a three-trophic-level system.
To explore the role of nutrient dispersal in generating multistability and complex population dynamics.

Main Methods:

Modeling a three-trophic system (rotifer predator, algal prey, nutrient) based on experimental chemostat cultures.
Analyzing the effects of nutrient dispersal on population dynamics and system stability.

Main Results:

Nutrient dispersal can induce multistability in three-trophic systems across a broader range of dispersal rates than previously observed.
Three-trophic systems exhibit rich dynamical behaviors, including antisynchronous, asynchronous oscillations, and chaos, driven by nutrient dispersal.
Nutrient dispersal alters local population dynamics and can trigger regime shifts, such as transitions between oscillation phases.

Conclusions:

Nutrient dispersal plays a significant role in shaping metacommunity structure and function in complex food webs.
The findings expand the understanding of multistability and complex dynamics in ecological systems connected by dispersal.