Ecological chaos in the wake of invasion.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 7708678.
- Also identified by PMC identifier 42250.
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Abstract
Irregularities in observed population densities have traditionally been attributed to discretization of the underlying dynamics. We propose an alternative explanation by demonstrating the evolution of spatiotemporal chaos in reaction-diffusion models for predator-prey interactions. The chaos is generated naturally in the wake of invasive waves of predators. We discuss in detail the mechanism by which the chaos is generated. By considering a mathematical caricature of the predator-prey models, we go on to explain the dynamical origin of the irregular behavior and to justify our assertion that the behavior we present is a genuine example of spatiotemporal chaos.
Medical subject headings
- Ecology
- Models, Biological
- Population Density
- Predatory Behavior