Stabilizing Dispersal Delays in Predator–Prey Metapopulation Models

• Published in: Theoretical population biology Vol. 61; no. 3; pp. 339 - 347
• Main Authors: Neubert, Michael G., Klepac, Petra, van den Driessche, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-05-2002
• Subjects: Animals; Competitive Behavior; delay-differential equations; Ecosystem; Lotka–Volterra models; metapopulation dynamics; Models, Biological; Population Dynamics; Predatory Behavior; stability; Lotka–Volterra models; delay-differential equations; stability; metapopulation dynamics
• ISSN: 0040-5809; 1096-0325
• DOI: 10.1006/tpbi.2002.1578

Time delays produced by dispersal are shown to stabilize Lotka–Volterra predator–prey models. The models are formulated as integrodifferential equations that describe local predator–prey dynamics and either intrapatch or interpatch dispersal. Dispersing individuals may (or may not) differ in the duration of their trips; these differences are captured via a distributed delay in the models. Our results include those of previous studies as special cases and show that the stabilizing effect continues to operate when the dispersal process is modeled more realistically.