IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/thpobi/v82y2012i3p170-176.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does predator interference cause alternative stable states in multispecies communities?

Author

Listed:
  • Feng, Jianfeng
  • Dakos, Vasilis
  • van Nes, Egbert H.

Abstract

Whereas it is well known that simple ecological mechanisms may promote stability in simple species models, their consequences for stability and resilience in multispecies communities are largely unexplored. Here, we studied the effect of predator interference on the occurrence of alternative attractors and complex dynamics in randomly constructed multispecies predator–prey communities. We studied three types of interference: random interference (“asymmetric†), random interference but symmetrical between pairs of predators (“symmetric†), and interference among only the same species (“conspecific†). In all cases predator interference increased the average number of alternative attractors, whereas at the same time it reduced the emergence of oscillatory or chaotic dynamics. Our findings demonstrate a contrasting effect of predator interference on the stability of a community: on the one hand it reduces cycles and chaos in the dynamics, on the other hand predator interference increases the likelihood that communities may undergo critical transitions between multiple stable states.

Suggested Citation

  • Feng, Jianfeng & Dakos, Vasilis & van Nes, Egbert H., 2012. "Does predator interference cause alternative stable states in multispecies communities?," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 170-176.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:thpobi:v:82:y:2012:i:3:p:170-176
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2012.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040580912000652
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tpb.2012.06.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:thpobi:v:82:y:2012:i:3:p:170-176. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/intelligence .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.