Role of bi-directional migration in two similar types of ecosystems

Abstract

Migration is a key ecological process that enables connections between spatially separated populations. Previous studies have indicated that migration can stabilize chaotic ecosystems. However, the role of migration for two similar types of ecosystems, one chaotic and the other stable, has not yet been studied properly. In the present paper, we investigate the stability of ecological systems that are spatially separated but connected through migration. We consider two similar types of ecosystems that are coupled through migration, where one system shows chaotic dynamics, and other shows stable dynamics. We also note that the direction of the migration is bi-directional and is regulated by the population densities. We propose and analyze the coupled system. We also apply our proposed scheme to three different models. Our results suggest that bi-directional migration makes the coupled system more regular. We have performed numerical simulations to illustrate the dynamics of the coupled systems.