Modeling the impact of plant toxicity on plant-herbivore dynamics (Q854722)

A mathematical model is built incorporating plant toxicity in the functional response of plant-herbivore interactions. It explicitly incorporates satiation by toxins. Firstly, the functional response which incorporates toxins in presence of a single plant is derived. The corresponding model represent a system of ordinary differential equations. Next, the case of two plant species is studied. It is proved that this model has much in common with a Lotka-Volterra competition system. The model exhibits a rich variety of complex dynamics including Hopf bifurcation and period-doubling bifurcations. The parameter values are either estimated by using experimental data or are selected by the authors for the purpose of demonstration. The results are illustrated by graphics, bifurcation diagram among them. A discussion of the results is presented. It is pointed out that this investigation demonstrates the possible influence of herbivores on the diversity of plant communities. The derived model for the first time couples the Lotka-Volterra equations to a toxin-regulated functional response.