Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T20:27:18.157Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comments on Fluctuations of Animal Populations and Measures of Community Stability1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

K. E. F. Watt
K. E. F. Watt
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of California, Davis
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Three questions are asked in this paper.

(1) Is the numerical stability of an insect species through time a function of the number of species of food eaten by that species?

(2) Is the information content of a genus related to the stability of species in the genus?

(3) Is the information content of an insect genus related to the number of species of food eaten by the species in that genus?

Data in the Canadian Forest Insect Survey bulletins on Forest Macrolepidoptera are used to answer all three questions; data on parasitic Hymenoptera stored in museums are used to answer the third question. There is some indication that stability decreases with number of host species, and that information content of a genus is less, the less the stability of the species it contains. The evidence from both bodies of data suggests that information content of a genus is less, the greater the average number of species of food eaten by the species in the genus.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 96 , Issue 11 , November 1964 , pp. 1434 - 1442
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1964

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Elton, C. 1946. Competition and the structure of ecological communities. J. Anim. Ecol. 15: 54–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feller, W. 1962. An introduction to probability theory and its applications. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A., Corbet, A. S. and Williams, C. B.. 1943. The relation between the number of species and the number of individuals in a random sample of an animal population. J. Anim. Ecol. 12: 42–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacArthur, R. 1955. Fluctuations of animal populations and a measure of community stability. Ecology 36: 533–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margalef, D. R. 1957. Information theory in ecology. (In Spanish). Mem. R. Acad. Barcelona 23: 373–449. (Republished in English in General Systems 3: 36–71, 1958.)Google Scholar
Morris, R. F. 1963a. Predictive population equations based on key factors. Mem. ent. Soc. Can. 31: 16–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, R. F. (ed.) 1963b. The dynamics of epidemic spruce-budworm populations. Mem. ent. Soc. Can. 31: 332 pp.Google Scholar
McGugan, B. M. 1958. Forest Lepidoptera of Canada. Vol. I. Publ. 1034, Canada Dep. Agric., Ottawa.Google Scholar
Prentice, R. M. 1962. Forest Lepidoptera of Canada. Vol. 2. Bull. 128, Canada Dep. Forestry, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Prentice, R. M. 1963. Forest Lepidoptera of Canada. Vol. 3. Publ. 1013, Canada Dep. Forestry, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Shannon, C., and Weaver, W.. 1949. The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Townes, H., and Townes, M.. 1959. Ichneumon flies of America north of Mexico: 1. Subfamily Metopiinae. Bull. U.S. nat. Mus. 216(1), 318 pp.Google Scholar
Townes, H., Townes, M., Walley, G. S., Walkley, L., Habeck, D. and Townes, G.. 1960. Ichneumon flies of America north of Mexico: 2. Subfamilies Ephialtinae, Xoridinae, Acaenitinae. Bull. U.S. nat. Mus. 216(2), 676 pp.Google Scholar
Turnbull, A. L., and Chant, D. A.. 1961. The practice and theory of biological control of insects in Canada. Canad. J. Zool. 39: 697–753.Google Scholar
Watt, K. E. F. 1961. Mathematical models for use in insect pest control. Canad. Ent. Suppl. 19, 62 pp.Google Scholar