Density-dependent parasitoid recruitment per parasitized host: effects on parasitoid-host dynamics

Models of parasitoid-host dynamics are analyzed that include direct density dependence in the host population and either parasitoid- or host-density-dependent variation in parasitoid recruitment per parasitized host (parasitoid "yield"). The principal question addressed is how these forms of density dependence in parasitoid dynamics combine with aggregated parasitism to affect the stability of the models, in relation to suppression of host abundance. When parasitoid yield is an overcompensating function of either parasitoid or host density, stability is enhanced for systems with host equilibria suppressed far below the host carrying capacity. Substantially less aggregation of parasitism is required for stability in this situation than in previous models assuming parasitoid yield is constant. However, this density dependence in parasitoid yield also reduces stability when the host equilibrium is suppressed only moderately below carrying capacity; this is especially true when parasitoid yield is more strongly decreased by high host density than is host per capita reproduction. At present there is little empirical evidence concerning the relationships of parasitoid recruitment to parasitoid and host densities. The substantial effects shown in these models suggest that these relationships should be considered in empirical studies.