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Intratrophic predation in simple predator-prey models

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Abstract

Intratrophic predation is a phenomenon not usually considered in mathematical models of biological populations, and yet it may occur in any model where many species are considered as a single model variable. This paper demonstrates how intratrophic predation can be rationally included in a general predator-prey model, and shows that the resulting model has some desirable and intuitively plausible features. A simple asymptotic method is developed in order to investigate how intratrophic predation can affect both the position and stability of the equilibria of a model. The methods can be applied to wide classes of population models, and the conclusions drawn are of practical importance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Jonathan Pitchford & John Brindley

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  1. Jonathan Pitchford
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  2. John Brindley
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Pitchford, J., Brindley, J. Intratrophic predation in simple predator-prey models. Bull. Math. Biol. 60, 937–953 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1006/bulm.1998.0053

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/bulm.1998.0053

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