Stochastic transitions from order to chaos in a metapopulation model with migration

This paper focuses on the problem of modeling and analyzing dynamic regimes, both regular and chaotic, in systems of coupled populations in the presence of random disturbances. The discrete Ricker model is used as the initial deterministic population model. The paper examines the dynamics of two populations coupled by migration. Migration is proportional to the difference between the densities of two populations with a coupling coefficient responsible for the strength of the migration flow. Isolated population subsystems, modeled by the Ricker map, exhibit various dynamic modes, including equilibrium, periodic, and chaotic ones. In this study, the coupling coefficient is treated as a bifurcation parameter and the parameters of natural population growth rate remain fixed. Under these conditions, one subsystem is in the equilibrium mode, while the other exhibits chaotic behavior. The coupling of two populations through migration creates new dynamic regimes, which were not observed in the isolated model. This article aims to analyze the dynamics of corporate systems with variations in the flow intensity between population subsystems. The article presents a bifurcation analysis of the attractors in a deterministic model of two coupled populations, identifies zones of monostability and bistability, and gives examples of regular and chaotic attractors. The main focus of the work is in comparing the stability of dynamic regimes against random disturbances in the migration intensity. Noise-induced transitions from a periodic attractor to a chaotic attractor are identified and described using direct numerical simulation methods. The Lyapunov exponents are used to analyze stochastic phenomena. It has been shown that in this model, there is a region of change in the bifurcation parameter in which, even with an increase in the intensity of random perturbations, there is no transition from order to chaos. For the analytical study of noise-induced transitions, the stochastic sensitivity function technique and the confidence domain method are used. The paper demonstrates how this mathematical tool can be employed to predict the critical noise intensity that causes a periodic regime to transform into a chaotic one.