In this paper, we investigate the complex dynamics of a ratio-dependent spatially extended food chain model. Through a detailed analytical study of the reaction–diffusion model, we obtain some conditions for global stability. On the basis of bifurcation analysis, we present the evolutionary process of pattern formation near the coexistence equilibrium point (N∗,P∗,Z∗)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$(N^*,P^*,Z^*)$$\end{document} via numerical simulation. And the sequence cold spots →\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\rightarrow $$\end{document} stripe–spots mixtures →\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\rightarrow $$\end{document} stripes →\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\rightarrow $$\end{document} hot stripe–spots mixtures →\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\rightarrow $$\end{document} hot spots →\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\rightarrow $$\end{document} chaotic wave patterns controlled by parameters a1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$a_1$$\end{document} or c1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$c_1$$\end{document} in the model are presented. These results indicate that the reaction–diffusion model is an appropriate tool for investigating fundamental mechanism of complex spatiotemporal dynamics.