The effect of refuge and immigration in a predator-prey system in the presence of a competitor for the prey (Q282023)

The author studies the effect of immigration and refuge on the dynamics of three species, where predator feeds on one of two competing species. Constant immigration is allowed for the species which is not attacked by the predator whereas predator only attacks the superior competitor. This reduces the competition pressure on the inferior competitor but, on the other hand, may change the outcome of the competition. Namely, selective predation allows a weaker competitor to survive but may also lead a stronger competitor to extinction due to over exploitation. It is observed that all three species can coexist if the strong competitor makes refuge and it is also proved that stable equilibrium may be achieved if intraspecific competition dominates interspecific competiton. Persistence analysis reveals that increase in intrinsic growth rate of prey species and decrease in death rate of predator ensure survival of all populations. Finally, the author notes that increase in interspecific competiton of weak competitor gives rise to system oscillations. Four numerical examples with hypothetical sets of data illustrate theoretical results presented in the paper.