A Predator–Prey Model with Genetics: Transition to a Self-Organized Critical State

A two species predator–prey model based on the Lotka–Volterra equations is proposed, where the fitness of an individual animal depends upon the relative strength of its genes. Simulations of the model show that the system passes from the standard oscillatory solution of the Lotka–Volterra equations into a steady-state regime, which exhibits many of the characteristics of self-organized criticality, including a 1/f power spectrum.