Dynamics of a predator-prey model with state-dependent carrying capacity

Vegetation and plateau pika are two key species in alpine meadow ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. It is frequently observed on the field that plateau pika reduces the carrying capacity of vegetation and the mortality of plateau pika increases along with the increasing height of vegetation. This motivates us to propose and study a predator-prey model with state-dependent carrying capacity. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that the model exhibits complex dynamics including the occurrence of saddle-node bifurcation, transcritical bifurcation and Hopf bifurcation, and the coexistence of two stable equilibria.