Period-Increasing Indicates Loss of Stability.

We first present a mathematical theory on period-increasing as an indicator of stability loss in a dynamical system of any dimension not less than two, and show that in two-dimensional autonomous ODEs, the period-increasing is closely associated with homoclinic or heteroclinic bifurcation. Then we demonstrate that the proposed period-increasing regime shift can occur in some ecological models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]