title: A simple population model with qualitatively uncertain dynamics
abstract: Basins of attraction of nonlinear systems can be "riddled"; arbitrarily close to any point in a riddled basin are neighboring points which go to a different attractor. I present two chaotically forced single-species population models with riddled basins of attraction. As a result of this complex basin structure, the ultimate survival of these populations is effectively unpredictable. Riddled basins produce a level of unpredictability qualitatively greater than the familiar sensitive dependence on initial conditions within a single chaotic attractor, or the unpredictability caused by multiple attractors with fractal basin boundaries.Copyright 1997 Academic Press Limited Copyright 1997 Academic Press Limited
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, U.S.A.
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Neubert