Different Environment Feedback in Fast-slow Eco-evolutionary Dynamics

Abstract: The fast-slow dynamics of an eco-evolutionary system are studied, where we consider the feedback actions of environmental resources that are classified into those that are self-renewing and those externally supplied. We show although these two types of resources are drastically different, the resulting closed-loop systems bear close resemblances, which include the same equilibria and their stability conditions on the boundary of the phase space, and the similar appearances of equilibria in the interior. After closer examination of specific choices of parameter values, we disclose that the global dynamical behaviors of the two types of closed-loop systems can be fundamentally different in terms of limit cycles: the system with self-renewing resources undergoes a generalized Hopf bifurcation such that one stable limit cycle and one unstable limit cycle can coexist; the system with externally supplied resources can only have the stable limit cycle induced by a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. Finally, the explorative analysis is carried out to show the discovered dynamic behaviors are robust in even larger parameter space.