No label defined (Q3984017)

Of considerable interest for mathematical ecology is the question of an attractor of positive solutions of the system of equations \[ \dot N_ 1=\lambda(1+a)^{-1}[1+a(1-N_ 2)-N_ 1(t-1)]N_ 1, \] \[ \dot N_ 2=r[N_ 1-N_ 2(t-h)]N_ 2, \] which models a predator-prey system, and which is considered in this paper. Here \(N_ 1\) and \(N_ 2\) are the prey and predator population densities, respectively; the parameter \(a\) is a measure of the pressure exerted by the predator on the prey; \(h\) is the time interval between successive generations in the predator population (the corresponding characteristic of the prey is adopted as the unit of time); \(r\) is the coefficient of the linear growth of the predator population; and the parameter \(\lambda\) is the Malthusian coefficient of the linear growth of the prey. We assume that this parameter is large; biologically, a large value means that the prey is extremely prolific.