Compensatory and overcompensatory dynamics in prey–predator systems exposed to harvest

Density dependent prey–predator systems under the impact of harvest are considered. The recruitment functions for both the prey and predator belong to the Deriso–Schnute family which allow us to study how the dynamical behaviour of both populations changes when compensatory density dependence turns overcompensatory. Depending on the degree of overcompensation, we show in the case of no harvest that an increase of the fecundity of the prey always acts in a destabilizing fashion. If the degree of overcompensation becomes sufficiently large, such an increase can lead to large amplitude chaotic oscillations of the prey, which actually may drive the predator population to extinction. The impact of harvest also depends on the degree of overcompensatory density dependence. If only the prey is the target population, increased harvest in general seems to stabilize the dynamics. On the other hand, harvesting only the predator may in some cases tend to stabilize dynamics, but there are also parameter regions where this turns out to be a strong destabilizing effect

Bifurcations of maps: numerical algorithms and applications

Dynamical systems theory provides mathematical models for systems which evolve in time according to a rule, originally expressed in analytical form as a system of equations. Discrete-time dynamical systems defined by an iterated map depending on control parameters, \begin{equation} \label{Map:g} g(x,\alpha) := f^{(J)}(x,\alpha)= \underbrace{f(f(f(\cdots f}_{J \mbox{~times}}(x,\alpha),\alpha),\alpha),\alpha), \end{equation} appear naturally in, e.g., ecology and economics, where $x\in \R^n$ and $\alpha \in \R^k$ are vectors of state variables and parameters, respectively. %The system dynamics describe a sequence of points \left\{x_k{\right\} \subset \R^n (orbit), provided an initial $x_0 \in \R^n$ is given. The main goal in the study of a dynamical system is to find a complete characterization of the geometry of the orbit structure and the change in orbit structure under parameter variation. An aspect of this study is to identify the invariant objects and the local behaviour around them. This local information then needs to be assembled in a consistent way by means of geometric and topological arguments, to obtain a global picture of the system. At local bifurcations, the number of steady states can change, or the stability properties of a steady state may change. The computational analysis of local bifurcations usually begins with an attempt to compute the coefficients that appear in the normal form after coordinate transformation. These coefficients, called critical normal form coefficients, determine the direction of branching of new objects and their stability near the bifurcation point. After locating a codim 1 bifurcation point, the logical next step is to consider the variation of a second parameter to enhance our knowledge about the system and its dynamical behaviour. % % In codim 2 bifurcation points branches of various codim 1 bifurcation curves are rooted. % These curve can be computed by a combination of parameter-dependent center manifold reduction and asymptotic expressions for the new emanating curves. We implemented new and improved algorithms for the bifurcation analysis of fixed points and periodic orbits of maps in the {\sc Matlab} software package {\sc Cl\_MatcontM}. This includes the numerical continuation of fixed points of iterates of the map with one control parameter, detecting and locating their bifurcation points, and their continuation in two control parameters, as well as detection and location of all codim 2 bifurcation points on the corresponding curves. For all bifurcations of codim 1 and 2, the critical normal form coefficients are computed with finite directional differences, automatic differentiation and symbolic derivatives of the original map. Asymptotics are derived for bifurcation curves of double and quadruple period cycles rooted at codim 2 points of cycles with arbitrary period to continue the double and quadruple period bifurcations. In the case $n=2$ we compute one-dimensional invariant manifolds and their transversal intersections to obtain initial connections of homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits orbits to fixed points of (\ref{Map:g}). We continue connecting orbits, using an algorithm based on the continuation of invariant subspaces, and compute their fold bifurcation curves, corresponding to the tangencies of the invariant manifolds. {\sc Cl\_MatcontM} is freely available at {\bf www.matcont.ugent.be} and {\bf www. sourceforge.net}