Blowout bifurcation with non-normal parameters in population dynamics - art. no. 032901

Interesting dynamic behaviors have been associated with the transverse stab ility of an invariant subspace (e.g., riddled basins or on-off intermittenc y). Recently, these complex behaviors have been generalized to cases of mod els with non-normal parameters showing that these behaviors might be widesp read. In this Brief Report I demonstrate this type of complex dynamics in m odels of interacting populations for which the invariant subspace is define d by species extinction. In the context of the current biodiversity crisis, implications of these behaviors for population biology are discussed.