Asynchronous Synchronization: A Spatially Explicit Agent-Based Model Simulating Ficus Trees and Their Obligate Wasp...

The study of figs (Ficus spp., Moraceae) has received considerable attention in the scientific literature, due to the genus' large number of species (700), pollination mutualism with Agaonid wasps, and its role as a keystone food resource in tropical ecosystems. Temporal sexual separation in hermaphroditic Ficus and asynchronous flowering among individuals within populations creates problems in supporting a viable population of dependent pollinator wasp species. To maintain the short-lived wasp populations, Ficus populations must provide a continuous temporal sequence of flowering trees, which are havens for the pollinating, termed the Critical Population Size (CPS). CPS was defined at the threshold between parameter settings yielding no wasps at the end of any simulation run and those in which at least one tree retained wasps for all 100 model runs for a setting within a scenario. A theoretical model of fig-wasp persistence dynamics incorporating temporal and spatial components was developed to examine CPS in monoecious species. Parameterization of this model is from literature and applicable to many species of Ficus. Because male and female fig flowers occur sequentially within a tree, the model represents the timing of the male and female phases separately rather than combining them into a single flowering period. Distance wasps can fly is essential in sustainable populations of Ficus. The influence of other model parameters on the system and how the system responds when longer simulation times are conducted. The model developed here can examine the transfer of pollen and catalog the links between trees, essentially allowing the examination of a network that varies temporally but not spatially. This model develops a new concept on what is deemed a viable pollinating population and includes spatial attributes and the ability to track individual trees and wasps.