Massimo Materassi - ISC-CNR Firenze #
A MODEL OF PREDATOR-PREY MULTI-TROPHIC SYSTEM WITH KLEPTO-PARASITISM #
The ecosystem of Italian Apennines is characterized by a complex trophic 
web including vegetation, two prey species, i.e. wild boar (Sus scrofa) 
and fallow deer (Dama dama), and a top predator, the wolf (Canis lupus).
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Recent field investigations have shown that this trophic web is 
characterized by a very peculiar topology since wild boars are 
wolf's prey when young, but they, as adults, klepto-parasitize 
wolves (i.e. steal food, fallow deer carcasses, from them).
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In this work we investigate the dynamics of this food web using a system 
of coupled ordinary differential equations and show that the presence of 
a certain degree of klepto-parasitism is able to stabilize its dynamics 
by eliminating the characteristic oscillations of both preys and 
predators in the absence of klepto-parasitism.
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This system is different from previously studied web models, because we 
introduce new physiological elements in the equations (e.g., the 
reproduction of wild boar is a function of food they are able to 
gather) and behavioural elements represented by the level of dominance 
of wild boars on wolves. By this model we introduce in food web 
modelling elements of ecological realism which, in perspective, might be 
used for habitat conservation and management. 
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In collaboration with: Stefano Focardi, Giacomo Innocenti, Duccio Berzi