A tale of two systems: biological control of knapweed and population dynamics of tent caterpillars

加拿大拥有丰富的自然资源，在研究生物对林业和农业的威胁方面有着令人自豪的历史。有两个领域特别相关--森林昆虫和牧场外来杂草的影响。需要对植物和昆虫进行基本的种群研究，以了解、预测并可能改善这些威胁。对西部帐篷毛虫种群周期的研究始于20世纪50年代的S。我们的目标是建立在这些丰富的知识基础上，并对该物种的动态进行综合理解。最近的分析表明，温泉可能不利于帐篷毛虫的种群增长，温泉种群感染病毒的几率往往更高。我们建议对气候变暖促进病毒性家畜共患病的假设进行实验检验。为此，我们将创建分支级温室，为受感染的毛虫取暖。此外，我们将开发综合模型，以探索人口动态如何随着气候变暖而变化。

Canada, a land of abundant natural resources, has a proud history of research on the biotic threats to forestry and agriculture. Two areas have been particularly relevant - the impacts of forest insects and of rangeland exotic weeds. Basic population research on plants and insects is required to understand, predict and possibly ameliorate these threats. Studies of population cycles of western tent caterpillars began in the 1950's. Our goal is to build on this wealth of knowledge and to synthesize an understanding of the dynamics of this species. Recent analysis shows that warm springs can be detrimental to population growth of tent caterpillars and infection by a viral disease tends to be higher in populations in warm springs. We propose to experimentally test the hypothesis that warming promotes the development of a viral epizootic. For this we will create branch-level greenhouses to warm infected caterpillars. In addition we will develop synthetic models to explore how population dynamics may change with warming climatic conditions.