Putting the brakes on a cycle: bottom-up effects damp cycle amplitude

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Bell, J. R., Burkness, E. C., Milne, A. E., Onstad, D. W., Abrahamson, M., Hamilton, K. L. and Hutchison, W. D. 2012. Putting the brakes on a cycle: bottom-up effects damp cycle amplitude. Ecology Letters. 15 (4), pp. 310-318. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01739.x

AuthorsBell, J. R., Burkness, E. C., Milne, A. E., Onstad, D. W., Abrahamson, M., Hamilton, K. L. and Hutchison, W. D.
Abstract

Pest population density oscillations have a profound effect on agroecosystem functioning, particularly when pests cycle with epidemic persistence. Here, we ask whether landscape-level manipulations can be used to restrict the cycle amplitude of the European corn borer moth [Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner)], an economically important maize pest. We analysed time series from Minnesota (19632009) and Wisconsin (19642009) to quantify the extent of regime change in the US Corn Belt where rates of transgenic Bt maize adoption varied. The introduction of Bt maize explained cycle damping when the adoption of the crop was high (Minnesota); oscillations were damped but continued to persist when Bt maize was used less intensely (Wisconsin). We conclude that host plant quality is key to understanding both epidemic persistence and the success of intervention strategies. In particular, the dichotomy in maize management between states is thought to limit the spatial autocorrelation of O. nubilalis.

KeywordsEcology
Year of Publication2012
JournalEcology Letters
Journal citation15 (4), pp. 310-318
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01739.x
PubMed ID22364256
Open accessPublished as non-open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeDelivering Sustainable Systems (SS) [ISPG]
Centre for Mathematical and Computational Biology (MCB)
Quantifying Sustainable Systems
Movement and spatial ecology in agricultural landscapes
PublisherWiley
ISSN1461-023X

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