TITLE PAGE

LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Global Dynamics of a
Predator-prey System with Holling
Type II Functional Response

XIAOHONG TIAN, RUI XUI

October 31, 2017

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Predator-prey System
The predator-prey problem refers to an ecological system in
which we have two species, one of which feeds on the other.

This type of system has been studied for decades and is

known to exhibit interesting dynamics.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Equilibrium points
The equilibrium points of the autonomous first-order
system in n variables (often described simply as an nth
order system)

x = X(x)
. (1)

occur at solutions of the n simultaneous equations given by

X(x) = 0.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Jacobian Matrix
Let J be the nxn Jacobian matrix of

X = [X1 (x), X2 (x), ..., Xn (x)]T

evaluated at the equilibrium point xc , where the matrix

with elements Jij is given by

J = [Jij ] = [ Xi (x)
]
Xj x=xc

The linear approximation is

= J

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Lotka-Volterra Model
This model, which takes into account only intrinsic
phenomena (voracity and fertility), has the form

x = x[a y]
y = y[c + x]

Here, x is the number of preys,

y is the number of predators, and the
a is the rate of birth of preys,
c is the rate of death of predators,
is a measure of susceptibility of preys to predation, and
is the predatory ability.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Continuation...

The system (1) has a unique non-zero equilibrium position,

which is a stable centre. At the same time, the solutions
of (1) are not structurally stable with respect to
disturbance of initial conditions.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Continuation...

The system (1) has a unique non-zero equilibrium position,

which is a stable centre. At the same time, the solutions
of (1) are not structurally stable with respect to
disturbance of initial conditions.

Note that in the absence of the predators (when y = 0), the

prey population would grow exponentially. If the preys are
absent (when x = 0), the predator population would decay
exponentially to zero due to starvation.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Continuation...
This system has two critical points. One is the origin, and
the other is in the first quadrant.

0 = x = x[a y] x = 0 or a y = 0
0 = y = y[c + x] y = 0 or c + x = 0
Therefore, the critical points are (0, 0) and ( c , a ).
The Jacobian matrix is
 
a y x
M=
y c + x

At (0,0), the linearized system has coefficient matrix

 
a 0
A=
0 c
R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...
 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

The eigenvalues are a and c. Hence, it is an unstable saddle

point.
At ( c , a ) , the linearized system has coefficient matrix

c
 
0
A=

0

The eigenvalues are aci . It is a stable center.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...

 TITLE PAGE
LOTKA-VOLTERA MODEL

Bazykin proposed the following predator-prey system:

bv(t)
u(t) = u(t)[a u(t) 1+u(t)
]
du(t)
v(t) = v(t)[c + 1+u(t)
v(t)]

where u(t); v(t) represent the densities of prey and predator

population, respectively.
System (2) is called Holling type II predator-prey model in
the literature. This system is an extension of the familiar
LotkaVolterra system, in which the divisor 1 + u(t) is
missing, i.e., = 0. is interpreted as a constant handling
time for each prey captured.

R.M. Maranga Global Dynamics of a Predator-prey System...