Studies on the stability of population equilibrium of the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella (Lep.: Plutellidae)) using perturbation method

Authors

1 Associate Professor in Population Ecology, Department of Plant Protection, Isfahan Research and Education Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Isfahan, Iran.

2 MSc in Agricultural Entomology and Assistant Professor in Entomology, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture (Abureihan campus), University of Tehran, Pakdasht, Iran.

Abstract

Nowadays, a basic understanding of population biology is necessary to establish ecological strategies of pest management. In the present study, the population behavior of the diamondback moth after a perturbation was examined. For this purpose, a long-term experiment with three treatments (control, a perturbation using density reduction and a perturbation using density increase) was performed. The experiment was started with 10 pairs of adult moths in ventilated cages under the standard constant environment. The experiment was continued for 10 generations. After five generations, the perturbation was applied and each treatment was replicated 10 times. Adults and larvae were fed with honey solution (20%) and Chinese cabbage, respectively. The population trend and stability were monitored by weekly census counts of live adults, and the data used as a measure of abundance for the population dynamics. The results showed that the populations of the diamondback moth persisted at equilibrial levels when there was no perturbation. On the contrary, when the populations were perturbed using density reduction, the population equilibrium was shifted to a lower level; in this situation perturbations using sustainable strategies, such as the release of natural enemies or the application of microbial insecticides, may set the equilibrium beneath economic injury threshold. While, a perturbation using density increase can cause instability of population equilibrium toward a decreasing trend that may drive the population to extinction. The causes and effects of the findings in relation with the moth life history, resource competition and its ecological consequences on the population behavior were discussed.

Keywords

References

Afiunizadeh, M., Karimzadeh, J. & Shojai, M. (2011) Naturally-occurring parasitism of diamondback moth in central Iran. pp. 93-96 in Srinivasan, R., Shelton, A. M. & Collins, H. L. (Eds). Proceedings of the 6th international workshop on management of the diamondback moth and other crucifer insect pests. 321 pp.AVRDC.
Afiunizadeh,M. & Karimzadeh,J. (2015) Assessment of naturally-occurring parasitism of diamondback moth in field using recruitment method. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 48, 43-49.
Andrewartha, H. G. & Birch, L. C. (1954) The distribution and abundance of animals. 793 pp. University of Chicago Press.
Begon, M., Mortimer, M. & Thompson, D. J. (1996) Population ecology: a unified study of animals and plants. 3rd ed. 256 pp. Wiley-Blackwell.
Begon, M., Townsend, C. R., & Harper, J. L. (2005) Ecology: from individuals to ecosystems. 4th ed. 752 pp. Wiley-Blackwell.
Brunsting, A. M. H. & Heessen, H. J. L. (1984) Density regulation in the carabid beetle Pterostichus oblongopunctatus. Journal of Animal Ecology 53, 751-760.
Cappuccino, N. & P. W. Price (1995) Population dynamics: new approaches and synthesis. 429 pp. Academic Press.
Crawley, M. J. (2013) The R book. 2nd ed. 975 pp. John Wiley & Sons.
Dempster, J. P. (1983) The Natural control of populations of butterflies and moths. Biological Reviews 58, 461-481.
Dempster, J. P. & McClean, I. F. G. (1999) Definition of terms. pp. 1-4 in Dempster, J. P. & McClean, I. F. G. (Eds). Insect populations: in theory and in practice. 506 pp. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Eccard, J. A. & Ylönen, H. (2003) Who bears the costs of interspecific competition in an age-structured population? Ecology 84, 3284-3293.
Ferrenberg, S. M. & Denno, R. F. (2003) Competition as a factor underlying the abundance of an uncommon phytophagous insect, the salt-marsh planthopper Delphacodes penedetecta. Ecological Entomology 28, 58-66.
Furlong, M. J., Wright, D. J. & Dosdall, L. M. (2013) Diamondback moth ecology and management: problems, progress, and prospects. Annual Review of Entomology 58, 517-541.
Gillman, M. & Hails, R. (1997) An introduction to ecological modelling: putting practice into theory. 202 pp. Blackwell Science.
Heidary,M. & Karimzadeh,J. (2014) Relative influences of plant type and parasitoid initial density on host-parasitoid relationships in a tritrophic system. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 47, 2392-2399.
Huffaker, C. B., Berryman, A. & Turchin, P. (1998) Dynamics and regulation of insect populations. pp. 269-312 in Huffaker, C. B. & Gutierrez, A. P. (Eds). Ecological entomology. 2nd ed. 776 pp. Wiley.
Jafary, M., Karimzadeh, J., Farazmand, H. & Rezapanah, M. (2016) Plant-mediated vulnerability of an insect herbivore to Bacillus thuringiensis in a plant-herbivore-pathogen system. Biocontrol Science and Technology 26, 104-115.
Karimzadeh, J., Bonsall, M. B., & Wright, D. J. (2004) Bottom-up and top-down effects in a tritrophic system: The population dynamics of Plutella xylostella (L.)-Cotesia plutellae (Kurdjumov) on different host plants. Ecological Entomology 29, 285-293.
Karimzadeh, J., & Farazmand, H. (2011) Ecological pest management. Zeytoon, 31, 11-16. (In Persian with English summary).
Karimzadeh, J. & Sayyed, A. H. (2011) Immune system challenge in a host-parasitoid-pathogen system: interaction between Cotesia plutellae (Hym.: Braconidae) and Bacillus thuringiensis influences parasitism and phenoloxidase cascade of Plutella xylostella (Lep.: Plutellidae). Journal of Entomological Society of Iran 30, 27-38.
Lewis, W. J., van Lenteren, J. C., Phatak, S. C. & Tumlinson, J. H. (1997) A total system approach to sustainable pest management. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 94, 12243-12248.
Milne, A. (1957) Theories of natural control of insect populations. pp. 253-271in Cold spring harbor symposia on quantitative biology. Vol. 22. Population studies: animal ecology and demography. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Murdoch, W. W. & Walde, S. J. (1989) Analysis of insect population dynamics. pp. 113-140 in Grubb, P. J. & Whittaker I. B. (Eds). Towards a more exact ecology. 468 pp. John Wiley & Sons.
Nicholson, A. J. (1935) The balance of animal populations. Journal of Animal Ecology 2, 132-178.
Schowalter, T. D. (2006) Insect ecology: an ecosystem approach. 3rd ed. 656 pp. Academic Press.
Smeding, F. W. & de Snoo, G. R. (2003) A concept of food-web structure in organic arable farming systems. Landscape and Urban Planning 65, 219-236.
Stoll, P. & Prati, D. (2001) Intraspecific aggregation alters competitive interactions in experimental plant communities. Ecology 82, 319-327.
Strong, D. R. (1986) Density-vague population change. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 1, 39-42.
Thomas, M. B. (1999) Ecological approaches and the development of “truly integrated” pest management. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 96, 5944-5951.
Umbanhowar, J. & Hastings, A. (2002) The Impact of resource limitation and the phenology of parasitoid attack on the duration of insect herbivore outbreaks. Theoretical Population Biology 62, 259-269.
Uvarov, B. P. (1931) Insects and climate. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 79, 1-232.
Journal of Entomological Society of Iran
Volume 36, Issue 1
June 2016
Pages 39-48

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics