Parameter Sensitivity In A Lattice Ecosystem With

Abstract: Ecosystem stability is an important issue in conservation of biodiversity. The stability of preypredator systems or competitive systems has been studied extensively. However, natural communities are far more complex than those simple ecosystems. Intraguild predation presents a sound example of a complex ecosystem with both competition and predation. The 3-species ecosystem with intraguild predation is the simplest such complex ecosystem. We studied the spatial pattern dynamics in the 3-species ecosystems with intraguild predation using the lattice version of the Lotka-Volterra model. A food web consists of plant, pure consumer (prey) and predatory consumer, where the latter two consumers show intraguild predation. The simulation of the lattice model shows complex patterns of phase transition with various parameter-dependence. The outcomes depend on the combination of these two reproductive parameters. This suggests that the stability of this ecosystem depends on the environmental parameters of the component species. Our results suggest that the discussion of stability based on the ecosystem structure could be meaningless unless all ecological and life history parameters of the component species are included. Our results indicate that a small human activity may have a relatively large impact on ecosystems by changing the ecological conditions of their component species