Dynamics of Fractional-Order Three-Species Food Chain Model with Vigilance Effect

This study examines a Caputo-type fractional-order food chain model, considering the Holling type II functional response with the vigilance effect. The model explores the interaction dynamics of the food chain model, which consists of prey, middle predators, and top predators. Additionally, habitat complexity is integrated into the model, which is assumed to reduce predation rates by lowering the encounter rates between predators and prey. All possible feasible equilibrium points are determined and the stability of our proposed model is explored near the equilibrium points. To support the analytical findings, numerical simulation results are given in terms of time series, phase portraits, and bifurcation diagrams. It is discovered that the proposed model can become more stable under a fractional-order derivative. Moreover, the interplay between the vigilance effect and habitat complexity is shown to influence the existence of stable and periodic dynamics.