The Role of Inducible Defence in Ecological Models: Effects of Nonlocal Intraspecific Competition

Abstract

Phenotypic plasticity significantly influences species interactions, especially via inducible defensive mechanisms in predator–prey dynamics. This work proposes and explores a predator–prey scenario whereby the prey species demonstrates inducible defence mechanisms against predators. The model demonstrates a diverse array of complex dynamical characteristics, notably highlighting the significant stabilizing influence of defence on population dynamics. We further investigate the system under conditions of spatio-temporal diffusion inside a confined region, demonstrating that the Turing instability domain diminishes as the defence level escalates, thereby decreasing the probability of spatial pattern emergence. To achieve more realistic ecological interactions, the model is augmented by including a nonlocal factor into the intraspecific competition of the prey population. The study shows that inducible defence suppresses pattern creation in the local model, but adding nonlocal interactions changes this behavior considerably by making the Turing domain wider as the range of interactions gets expanded. These results show how important inducible defence and spatial linkages are for keeping ecosystems stable and diverse in space. In general, the results give new insight into how behavioral adaptations and nonlocal impacts work together to affect species coexistence, pattern development, and the robustness of ecological systems.