Suppression of ecological competition by an apex predator

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2004 Aug;70(2 Pt 1):021913. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.70.021913. Epub 2004 Aug 30.

Abstract

In the framework of Lotka-Volterra dynamics with evolutionary parameter variation, it is shown that a system of two competing species which is evolutionarily unstable, if left to themselves, is stabilized by a common predator preying on both of them. Game-theoretic implications of the results are also discussed.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Biological
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Biological Evolution
  • Competitive Behavior
  • Ecology / methods*
  • Ecosystem*
  • Game Theory
  • Models, Statistical
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Population Dynamics
  • Predatory Behavior