A Nonlinear Mathematical Model of Competition and Mutualism for Examining Pollinator Intervention in Crop-Weed Interactions
摘要
Crop and weed plants often compete for water, sunlight, soil moisture, nutrients, etc. However, both of them are capable of offering floral resources to pollinators. Hence, crops, weeds, and pollinators are crucial agro-ecosystem components. Considering this aspect, a nonlinear differential equation model is developed to portray the complex interactions among the variables, viz. crop, weed, and pollinator. The proposed model is mutualism-competitive type, which comprises the mutualism of pollinators with crops and weeds and inter-specific competition between crops and weeds. The purpose of the model is to clarify how interactive dynamics affect the individual populations as time progresses. Therefore, the developed model is examined for qualitative features, including different states of equilibrium, their existences and stabilities, to get an idea of the system’s behaviour in the long run and possible bifurcations that could occur in the system’s dynamics with variation in model parameters. These perceptive qualitative findings are corroborated by numerical simulations demonstrating various dynamical patterns that could appear in the system. Results from the model indicate that coexisting weeds, crops, and pollinators can result in a stable state. Nevertheless, in some circumstances, the system may also exhibit periodic oscillations due to Hopf-bifurcation whenever there is an imbalance in the mutualism between pollinators and crops or the competition between crops and weeds.