Analysis of Control and Regulation of an Insect by its Parasitoid

0089515. 当代生态学的中心目标是了解植物、植食性昆虫和它们的天敌之间高度复杂的相互作用。 这些直接和间接的相互作用对自然和管理的人口和社区产生了深远的影响。 加利福尼亚大学圣巴巴拉分校的威廉·默多克和他的同事们正在进行长期调查，以了解寄生蜂如何在低人口密度下维持以柑橘为食的加州红蚧昆虫的种群。 了解这种生物种群控制如何如此迅速地发生，同时保持稳定，是该项目的主要目标。 几个假设将进行测试的经验，如相应的寄生率增加，寄生干扰，规模密度上升。 这项研究被许多生态学家认为是昆虫种群动态和生物控制的最佳研究之一。 该项目具有强大的理论和经验组成部分，并在多个时间和空间尺度上将建模与假设检验相结合。 虽然这项工作的重点是一个特定的植物-昆虫-敌人模型，生态相互作用和人口动态的基本原则是广泛相关的其他自然和农业系统。 这一基础生态学研究直接应用于农学以及人类生活质量。 从该项目中获得的知识有助于减少农药的使用，并建立更环保的控制主要作物和果园害虫的方法。

0089515. William MurdochA central objective of contemporary ecology is to understand the highly complex interactions between plants, plant-feeding insects, and their natural enemies. These direct and indirect interactions have profound impacts on natural and managed populations and communities. William Murdoch and his colleagues at the University of California-Santa Barbara are conducting long-term investigations to understand how parasitic wasps maintain populations of citrus-feeding California red scale insects at low population densities. Understanding how this biological population control occurred so quickly, while remaining stabile, is the primary objective of the project. Several hypotheses will be tested empirically, such as a corresponding increase in parasitism rates, and parasitoid interference, as scale densities rise. This research is considered by many ecologists to be one of the best studies of insect population dynamics and biological control. The project has strong theoretical and empirical components and blends modeling with hypothesis testing at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Although this work is focused on a specific plant-insect-enemy model, the principles underlying the ecological interactions and population dynamics are broadly relevant for other natural and agricultural systems. This basic ecological research has direct applications for agronomy, as well as the quality of human life. Knowledge gained from this project can help reduce pesticide use and establish more environmentally friendly methods of controlling major crop and orchard pests.