Persistence and spatial patterns in a one-predator-two-prey Lotka- Volterra model with diffusion (Q1200288)

A Lotka-Volterra system with diffusion for three species (one predator and two competing prey species) is considered in a bounded smooth domain in \(R^ n\) under homogeneous von Neumann boundary conditions. Assuming that the system without diffusion possesses a unique stable spatially homogeneous positive equilibrium, the authors study the question whether diffusion can have destabilizing effects. Various sufficient conditions on the model parameters are given that ensure the existence of time-invariant or time-periodic spatial patterns. The stability of these patterns in space dimension one is discussed. The results are illustrated by some numerical examples.