On a diffusive prey--predator model which exhibits patchiness.

Abstract Spatial heterogeneity (patchiness) in certain predator-prey situations has been observed even though their environment appears homogeneous. As a model mechanism to explain this patchiness phenomenon we propose a predator-prey interaction system with diffusive effects. We show that when the diffusion of the prey is small compared with that of the predator the non-linearity which we call a hump effect in the prey interaction, is a key mechanism for the system to exhibit, asymptotically in time, stable heterogeneity in a bounded domain with zero flux boundary conditions. The model can reasonably be applied to certain terrestrial plant-herbivore systems.

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