Migratory effect of middle predator in a tri-trophic food chain model

Abstract

A tri-trophic food chain model in a two-patch environment is considered. Although tri-trophic food chain model is well studied, the study considering migration of middle predator is lacking. To the best of our knowledge, the present investigation is the first study in this direction. Both prey and predator density-dependent migrations are considered to observe the effects on stability and persistence of the system. We observe that migration of middle predator has the ability to control chaos in tri-trophic food chain model. Our results indicate that the chance of predator extinction enhances for prey density-dependent middle predator migration.