Effects of a population floor on the persistence of chaos in a mutual interference host–parasitoid model

Chaotic dynamics have been observed in a wide range of population models. However, much of the research on the persistence of chaos has focused on external perturbations of ecosystems, such as climatic change or anthropogenic factors. In this paper, the effects of a non-zero population floor in a mutual interference host–parasitoid model are described. Such a perturbation generally reduces the likelihood of observing chaos. Furthermore, the computational simulation of the largest Lyapunov exponent also demonstrates the chaotic dynamic behavior of the model and describes a process which reduces the likelihood of observing chaos. The numerical results indicate that computer simulation is a useful method for studying chaos.