Title: Real-case study of the Moroccan tri-trophic model with alternative food

Authors: Nossaiba Baba; Imane Agmour; Youssef El Foutayeni; Naceur Achtaich

Addresses: Hassan II University, FSBM, 20670, Morocco ' Hassan II University, FSBM, 20670, Morocco ' Cadi Ayyad University, ENSA Marrakech, 40000, Morocco; UMI UMMISCO, IRD – UPMC, 93143, France ' Hassan II University, FSBM, 20670, Morocco

Abstract: In this study, we perform a comprehensive analytical and numerical analysis of the dynamics within the Moroccan tritrophic marine ecosystem, focusing on the species Maja Squinado, Octopus Vulgaris, and Xiphias Gladius. We compare the behaviour of the system with and without alternative food sources. Mathematically, we explore positivity, boundedness, equilibrium points, and their stabilities in both scenarios. The effect of alternative food resources on intermediate predators (Octopus Vulgaris) is examined in the context of a Holling II functional response. Our results reveal that when predators rely solely on their preferred prey, their biomass initially peaks before declining. However, the availability of alternative food sources allows the prey population to recover, thus maintaining a stable predator biomass. This highlights the essential role of alternative food sources in maintaining ecosystem stability and the closer alignment of the model with real-world dynamics.

Keywords: fish population; alternative food; tri-trophic model; Maja Squinado; Octopus Vulgaris; Xiphias gladius; stability analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCBDD.2024.142284

International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design, 2024 Vol.16 No.2, pp.125 - 146

Received: 09 Nov 2023
Accepted: 23 Aug 2024
Published online: 16 Oct 2024 *

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