Local Perception and Learning Mechanisms in Resource-Consumer Dynamics

SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Volume 84, Issue 3, Page 988-1010, June 2024.
Abstract. Spatial memory is key in animal movement modeling, but it has been challenging to explicitly model learning to describe memory acquisition. In this paper, we study novel cognitive consumer-resource models with different consumer learning mechanisms and investigate their dynamics. These models consist of two PDEs in composition with one ODE such that the spectrum of the corresponding linearized operator at a constant steady state is unclear. We describe the spectra of the linearized operators and analyze the eigenvalue problems to determine the stability of the constant steady states. We then perform bifurcation analysis by taking the perceptual diffusion rate as the bifurcation parameter. It is found that steady-state and Hopf bifurcations can both occur in these systems, and the bifurcation points are given so that the stability region can be determined. Moreover, rich spatial and spatiotemporal patterns can be generated in such systems via different types of bifurcation. Our effort establishes a new approach to tackling a hybrid model of PDE-ODE composition and provides a deeper understanding of cognitive movement-driven consumer-resource dynamics.