EFFECT OF ADDITIONAL FOOD ON PREDATOR–PREY INTERACTIONS WITH WATER-LEVEL FLUCTUATION

Abstract

Significant variations of the water-level of the lake can have a strong impact on the persistence of species. Indeed, when the water-level is low, during the autumn, the contact between the predator and the prey is more frequent, and the predation increases. Conversely, when the water-level is high, in the spring, it is more difficult for the predator to find a prey and the predation decreases. In this paper, we consider a seasonally varying predator–prey model to study the influence of water-level variations on the interaction between two species of fishes in an artificial lake. A seasonal variation of the water-level is introduced in the predation rate. The predator population is provided some additional food apart from the focal prey, and follows logistic growth in the absence of prey population. As control upon the over predation, the predator population is harvested. Sensitivity analysis shows that the biomass of predator population is highly sensitive to the additional food and water variations. In the absence of additional food, our results show bursting patterns of fishes whereas positive periodic solution arises if the additional food is available in sufficient amount. The positive periodic solution is shown to be globally stable. Higher values of water-level fluctuations induce double periodic oscillations. Our findings show that providing additional food source to the generalist predator together with water-level fluctuations exerts a strong influence on the interaction between fishes.