A Study on the Specialist Predator with the Allee Effect on the Prey

Abstract

Predator-prey models in theoretical ecology have a long and complex history, spanning decades of research. Most of the models rely upon simple reproduction and mortality rates associated with different types of functional responses. A key development in this field occurred with the introduction of a density dependent reproduction rate, originally introduced by Allee. In this manuscript, a new function representing the Allee effect is introduced and justified from the ecological point of view. This paper aims to analyze predator-prey models incorporating Holling type-I and II functional responses, influenced by this new Allee function. A rich dynamics shows up in the presence of the said function, including the emergence of the limit cycles through the Hopf bifurcation for a particular parameter domain.