GEOMETRIC METHOD FOR GLOBAL STABILITY OF DISCRETE POPULATION MODELS

摘要

A class of autonomous discrete dynamical systems as population models for competing species are considered when each nullcline surface is a hyperplane. Criteria are established for global attraction of an interior or a boundary fixed point by a geometric method utilising the relative position of these nullcline planes only, independent of the growth rate function. These criteria are universal for a broad class of systems, so they can be applied directly to some known models appearing in the literature including Ricker competition models, Leslie-Gower models, Atkinson-Allen models, and generalised Atkinson-Allen models. Then global asymptotic stability is obtained by finding the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix at the fixed point. An intriguing question is proposed: Can a globally attracting fixed point induce a homoclinic cycle?