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Published on: May 31, 2018
Differential cannibalism and population dynamics in a host-parasitoid system
D J Reed1, M Begon1, D J Thompson1
1Population Biology Research Group, Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Liverpool, Nicholson Building, PO Box 147, L69 3BX, Liverpool, UK.
Abstract:
The effects of host cannibalism on a host-parasitoid system were explored through experiment and modelling. In individual encounters between parasitized and unparasitized Plodia interpunctella larvae, parasitized larvae were more likely to be cannibalized. Inclusion of this differential cannibalism into a simple Lotka-Volterra-type model of host-parasitoid population dynamics generates alternative stable states-including stable coexistence and extinction of the parasitoid - which depend on starting conditions. Possible mechanisms for differential cannibalism, and its implications for studies of host-parasitoid populations and biological control programmes are discussed.
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