Modelling the overwintering strategy of a beneficial insect in a heterogeneous landscape using a multi-agent system
Authored by Claude Monteil, Florent Arrignon, Marc Deconchat, Jean-Pierre Sarthou, Grard Balent
Date Published: 2007
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.03.006
Sponsors:
French Ministry of Research
Platforms:
CORMAS
Model Documentation:
UML
Other Narrative
Flow charts
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
A better knowledge of the foraging ecology of predator insect species
that feed on crop pests is of primary importance to improve their
beneficial influence for agriculture and for the environment.
Multi-agent models are an efficient tool in this respect since they can
cope with the complex processes involved in individual behaviour in a
heterogeneous space. We applied this method to model the behaviour of
Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer, 1776), a helpful species of Syrphidae
(Insecta, Diptera) which can overwinter as fertilized adult females and
whose larvae feed on aphids occurring on both natural vegetation and
crops. The ``HoverWinter{''} model focuses on the winter dynamics of an
E. balteatus population at the landscape scale. Each individual is
modelled as an autonomous agent who behaves according to a set of rules
for foraging in the landscape, feeding on flowers, sheltering in forest
edges and dying, constrained by climate and land cover. The model was
developed from data in the literature, expert knowledge and field
measurements. This paper presents the structure of the model, the
definition of its parameters, the sensitivity of the model to their
accuracy and its main outputs. Hover-winter is the first individual
based model for E. balteatus and its preliminary results show that it
helps to understand how E. balteatus uses agricultural landscapes to
survive the winter. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tags
behavior
Simulations
movements
patterns
Populations
Ecological models
Episyrphus-balteatus diptera
Floral resources
Degeer diptera
Syrphidae