Pattern formation induced by intraspecific interactions in a predator-prey system

Abstract

Differential diffusion is a source of instability in population dynamics systems when species diffuse with different rates. Predator-prey systems show this instability only under certain specific conditions, usually requiring Holling-type functionals involved. Here we study the effects of intraspecific cooperation and competition on diffusion-driven instability in a predator-prey system with a different structure. We conduct the analysis on a generalized population dynamics that bounds intraspecific and interspecific interactions with Verhulst-type saturation terms instead of Holling-type functionals. We find that instability occurs due to the intraspecific saturation or intraspecific interactions, both cooperative and competitive. We present numerical simulations and show spatial patterns due to diffusion.