Ontogenetic shifts within the selfish herd: predation risk and foraging trade-offs change with age in colonial web-building spiders |
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Authors: | Linda S Rayor George W Uetz |
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Institution: | (1) Rangeland Insect Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 59717-0366 Bozeman, MT, USA;(2) College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences, University of Idaho, 83844 Moscow, ID, USA |
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Abstract: | We tested for the existence of density dependence in annual adult rangeland grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) data from Montana, USA (1951–1991). Statistical density dependence was, in the sense of a stochastic equilibrium or return tendency, detected in all of the grasshopper mean density time-series from the three major physiographic regions of the state, Northern Glaciated Plains, Southern Unglaciated Plains, and Western Mountains. Parameters were estimated for a model that described the stochastic equilibrium characteristics of regional mean densities. The analyses showed that rangeland grasshopper regional densities fluctuate according to gamma distribution with a mean of 6.1–6.3 grasshoppers per m2. Further, when regions exhibit outbreaks, the resulting infestation period (duration of outbreak) is short, spanning only a few generations. |
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Keywords: | Insecta Density dependence Time series Forecasting Logistic growth |
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