The Impact of Fear on a Harvested Prey–Predator System with Disease in a Prey

Abstract

A mathematical eco-epidemiological model consisting of harvested prey–predator system involving fear and disease in the prey population is formulated and studied. The prey population is supposed to be separated into two groups: susceptible and infected. The susceptible prey grows logistically, whereas the infected prey cannot reproduce and instead competes for the environment’s carrying capacity. Furthermore, the disease is transferred through contact from infected to susceptible individuals, and there is no inherited transmission. The existence, positivity, and boundedness of the model’s solution are discussed. The local stability analysis is carried out. The persistence requirements are established. The global behavior of the system is investigated with the use of the Lyapunov method. An application to the Sotomoyar theorem of local bifurcation is performed around the equilibrium points. In the end, the system is numerically simulated to confirm our obtained analytical results and specify the control set of parameters. Bifurcation diagrams are used to show the dynamical behavior as a function of some parameters. It is obtained that the prey’s fear stabilizes the system, while the disease and harvest cause extinction in one or more species.

Keywords

• prey–predator system
• fear
• harvesting
• stability
• bifurcation
• persistence