Incorporating behaviour into simple models of dispersal using the biological control agent Dicyphus hesperus

Authored by Brian O Ma, Brad H Davis, David R Gillespie, Sherah L VanLaerhoven

Date Published: 2009

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.08.022

Sponsors: National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) British Columbia Greenhouse Research Council

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: ODD Flow charts

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

We explored the utility of incorporating easily measured, biologically realistic movement rules into simple models of dispersal. We depart from traditional random walk models by designing an individual-based simulation model where we decompose animal movement into three separate processes: emigration, between-patch movement, and immigration behaviour. These processes were quantified using experiments on the omnivorous insect Dicyphus hesperus moving through a tomato greenhouse. We compare the predictions of the individual-based model, along with a series of biased random walk models, against an independent experimental release of D. hesperus. We find that in this system, the short-term dispersal of these insects is described well by our individual-based model, but can also be described by a 2D grid-based biased random walk model when mortality is accounted for. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tags

Simulation Strategies Populations Plant Flight search patterns Wandering albatrosses Correlated random-walk Heterogeneous landscapes Animal movements Heteroptera