Integrable and Chaotic 4-Dimensional Lotka-Volterra Models and Population Sustainability

Abstract

We examine a 4-dimensional generalization of predator-prey models describing interactions among four species. We show that these systems exhibit a rich variety of asymptotic behaviors, with solutions that are either integrable, leading to non-sustainable dynamics characterized by unbounded population growth or collapse, or chaotic, where all species coexist over time. Moreover, we review the integrable cases, which are classified into two-parametric families, and examine three-parametric families that behave similarly to the known two-parametric integrable cases. We also analyze chaotic Lotka-Volterra models in terms of their Lyapunov exponents and Poincare' surfaces of section, which turn out to reveal underlying structures that are compatible with what is expected from sustainable dynamics.