title: Stabilization of metapopulation cycles: toward a classification scheme.
abstract: The stability of population oscillations in ecological systems is considered. Experiments suggest that in many cases the single patch dynamics of predator-prey or host-parasite systems is extinction prone, and stability is achieved only when the spatial structure of the population is expressed via desynchronization between patches. A few mechanisms have been suggested so far to explain the inability of dispersal to synchronize the system. Here we compare a recently discovered mechanism, based on the dependence of the angular velocity on the oscillation amplitude, with other, already known conditions for desynchronization. Using a toy model composed of diffusively coupled oscillators we suggest a classification scheme for stability mechanisms, a scheme that allows for either a priori (based on the system parameters) or a posteriori (based on local measurements) identification of the dominant process that yields desynchronization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
authors.forename: Refael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abta
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schiffer
authors.forename: Avishag
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben-Ishay
authors.forename: Nadav M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Shnerb