Impact of cannibalism on dynamics of a structured predator-prey system

Abstract Cannibalism, as a behavioral trait, is prevalent in many species. To have better understanding of their dynamics, we investigate a structured predator-prey system with predator cannibalism, where the prey population follows the logistic growth in the absence of the predator. We study the effects of the cannibalism attack rate and the corresponding benefit rate of cannibals on the model dynamics. Complex phenomena, including the bistability, the existences of two positive equilibria and stable/unstable periodic solutions, are found. We define quantities with clear biological meanings, and establish conditions determining the local and global dynamics of the model based on these quantities. Our results show that, under certain conditions, the final states of the populations depend on not only the related model parameters but also the initial conditions of the solutions.