Chaos in a three-species food chain model with a Beddington-DeAngelis functional response

This paper investigates a three-species food chain model with a Beddington-DeAngelis functional response, both analytically and through numerical simulations. First the equilibrium states of the system are identified and their stability analyzed analytically. The results of simulations demonstrate chaotic long-term behavior over a broad range of parameters. The existence of a strange attractor and computation of the largest Lyapunov exponent also demonstrate the presence of chaotic dynamics in the model. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.