Pattern formation in a predator-prey system characterized by a spatial scale of interaction

TL;DR

This paper investigates how spatial interaction scales influence pattern formation in predator-prey systems using a modified Lotka-Volterra model, revealing conditions for pattern emergence and ecological implications.

Contribution

It introduces a spatially scaled interaction range into the classical predator-prey model and analyzes pattern formation through analytical and simulation methods.

Findings

Patterns emerge when interaction range induces instability.

Spatial structures can lead to predator extinction.

Erratic oscillations characterize realistic ecological dynamics.

Abstract

We describe pattern formation in ecological systems using a version of the classical Lotka-Volterra model characterized by a spatial scale which controls the predator-prey interaction range. Analytical and simulational results show that patterns can emerge in some regions of the parameters space where the instability is driven by the range of the interaction. The individual-based implementation captures realistic ecological features. In fact, spatial structures emerge in an erratic oscillatory regime which can contemplate predators' extinction.