Sensitivity of the dynamics of the general Rosenzweig–MacArthur model to the mathematical form of the functional response: a bifurcation theory approach

The equations in the Rosenzweig–MacArthur predator–prey model have been shown to be sensitive to the mathematical form used to model the predator response function even if the forms used have the same basic shape: zero at zero, monotone increasing, concave down, and saturating. Here, we revisit this model to help explain this sensitivity in the case of three response functions of Holling type II form: Monod, Ivlev, and Hyperbolic tangent. We …