Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 July 2016
The possibility that interspecific contest tactics might be able to stabilize two species predator-prey populations is investigated using a matrix model of the population. It is found that if the interspecific tactics have no influence on intraspecific encounters, the non-trivial equilibrium population composition is necessarily unstable. The result provides some insight into a reported instability of a predator-prey population with ‘stable' strategies.
Research supported by National Research Council Operating Grant A6187.