A comparative approach to stabilizing mechanisms between discrete- and continuous-time consumer-resource models

There is rich literature on using continuous-time and discrete-time models for studying population dynamics of consumer-resource interactions. A key focus of this contribution is to systematically compare between the two modeling formalisms the stabilizing/destabilizing impacts of diverse ecological...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-04, Vol.17 (4), p.e0265825-e0265825
Main Author: Singh, Abhyudai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biology and Life Sciences
Comparative analysis
Computer and Information Sciences
Consumers
Cooperation
Ecological effects
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Economic aspects
Equilibrium
Host-Parasite Interactions
Interference
Marketing research
Mechanism design (Economics)
Medicine and Health Sciences
Modelling
Models, Biological
Parasitoids
Population
Population Density
Population Dynamics
Reproduction
Resource allocation
Social aspects
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Summary:There is rich literature on using continuous-time and discrete-time models for studying population dynamics of consumer-resource interactions. A key focus of this contribution is to systematically compare between the two modeling formalisms the stabilizing/destabilizing impacts of diverse ecological processes that result in a density-dependent consumer attack rate. Inspired by the Nicholson-Bailey/Lotka-Volterra models in discrete-time/continuous-time, respectively, we consider host-parasitoid interactions with an arbitrary parasitoid attack rate that is a function of both the host/parasitoid population densities. Our analysis shows that a Type II functional response is stabilizing in both modeling frameworks only when combined with other mechanisms, such as mutual interference between parasitoids. A Type III functional response is by itself stabilizing, but the extent of attack-rate acceleration needed is much higher in the discrete-time framework, and its stability regime expands with increasing host reproduction. Finally, our results show that while mutual parasitoid interference can stabilize population dynamics, cooperation between parasitoids to handle hosts is destabilizing in both frameworks. In summary, our comparative analysis systematically characterizes diverse ecological processes driving stable population dynamics in discrete-time and continuous-time consumer-resource models.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265825