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GENETIC FEEDBACK AND SIMULATED ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

William J. Sydor  and
David Pimentel
William J. Sydor
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
David Pimentel
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
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Abstract

An investigation was made of the impact of a series of environmental catastrophes upon herbivore population regulation through density-dependent genetic feedback interactions with simulated plants. Mean density and amplitude of fluctuation of the herbivore in the control system (only susceptible alleles in the plant population) were higher than in the genetic feedback system (3 resistant alleles and 3 susceptible alleles in the plant population). Mean density and amplitude of fluctuation of the herbivores in the catastrophic system (only susceptible alleles in the plant population and the herbivore population subject to a series of environmental catastrophes) were lower than in the control and genetic feedback systems, but both mean density and amplitude of fluctuation were higher than in the genetic feedback and catastrophic system (3 resistant and 3 susceptible alleles in the plant population and the herbivore population subject to a series of environmental catastrophes). The results of this experiment suggest that genetic feedback can exert a controlling influence in population dynamics even in systems where environmental catastrophes are a common occurrence.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 107 , Issue 12 , December 1975 , pp. 1343 - 1348
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1975

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