Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T09:16:30.668Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Estimating population variability of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae): how many years are required?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2016

Robert J. Lamb ,
Patricia A. MacKay  and
Andrei Alyokhin
Robert J. Lamb*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
Patricia A. MacKay
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
Andrei Alyokhin
Affiliation:
School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, 5722 Deering Hall, Orono, Maine, 04469, United States of America
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: lambmack@mts.net)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Variability is an important characteristic of population dynamics, but the length of the time series required to estimate population variability is poorly understood. To this end, population variability of Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), Myzus persicae (Sulzer), and Aphis nasturtii (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was investigated. Population variability (measured as PV, a proportion between 0 and 1) was estimated for time series of 3–62 years, giving replicate estimates for time series of 3–20 years that were normally distributed. Mean values for PV were more uniform for a time series of 12 years or longer than for shorter ones. The standard deviation of PV declined to a minimum at 12–15 years, as the length of the time series increased. Discrimination of estimates of PV was reliable for 15-year time series and longer, but not necessarily for shorter ones. Although M. euphorbiae had a relatively low PV, the coefficient of variation of that PV (12.5), was higher than for the other two species (3.5, 4.5). For robust estimates of PV, a time series of 15 years is recommended, because it minimises the standard deviation of PV, and discriminates values of PV that differ by 0.06 on a 0–1 scale.

Type
Behaviour & Ecology
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 149 , Issue 1 , February 2017 , pp. 48 - 55
Copyright
© Entomological Society of Canada 2016 

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.)

Footnotes

Subject editor: John Wise

References

Alyokhin, A., Drummond, F.A., and Sewell, G. 2005. Density-dependent regulation in populations of potato-colonizing aphids. Population Ecology, 47: 257–266.Google Scholar
Alyokhin, A., Drummond, F.A., Sewell, G., and Storch, R.H. 2011. Differential effects of weather and natural enemies on coexisting aphid populations. Environmental Entomology, 40: 570–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cappuccino, N. 1987. Comparative population dynamics of two goldenrod aphids: spatial patterns and temporal constancy. Ecology, 68: 1634–1646.Google Scholar
Dalin, P., Kindvall, O., and Björkman, C. 2009. Reduced population control of an insect pest in managed willow monocultures. Public Library of Science One, 4: e5847. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005487.Google Scholar
Galloway, T.D. and Lamb, R.J. 2014. Abundance and stability are species traits for four chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae, Philopteridae) on feral pigeons, Columba livia (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae). The Canadian Entomologist, 145: 444–456.Google Scholar
Galloway, T.D. and Lamb, R.J. 2015. Abundance and stability of populations of a chewing louse, Mulcticola macrocephalus (Kellogg) (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae), on common nighthawks, Chordeiles minor (Forster) (Aves: Caprimulgiformes: Caprimulgidae) in Manitoba. The Canadian Entomologist, 147: 723–731.Google Scholar
Heath, J.P. 2006. Quantifying temporal variability in population abundances. Oikos, 115: 573–581.Google Scholar
Lamb, R.J. and MacKay, P.A. 2010. Stability of natural populations of an aphid, Uroleucon rudbeckiae, at three spatial scales. The Canadian Entomologist, 142: 36–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, R.J., MacKay, P.A., and Alyokhin, A. 2011. Population variability and persistence of three aphid pests of potatoes over 60 years. The Canadian Entomologist, 143: 91–101.Google Scholar
Lamb, R.J., MacKay, P.A., and Alyokhin, A. 2013. Seasonal dynamics of three aphid species: implications for estimating population variability. The Canadian Entomologist, 145: 283–291.Google Scholar
Lamb, R.J., MacKay, P.A., and Wool, D. 2012. Population stability of a tree-galling aphid, Baizongia pistaciae, at three spatial scales. The Canadian Entomologist, 144: 406–418.Google Scholar
McArdle, B.H., Gaston, K.J., and Lawton, J.H. 1990. Variation in the size of animal populations: patterns, problems and artefacts. Journal of Animal Ecology, 59: 439–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redfearn, A. and Pimm, S.L. 1988. Population variability and polyphagy in herbivorous insect communities. Ecological Monographs, 58: 39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F.J. 1981. Biometry. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, New York, United States of America.Google Scholar
SYSTAT Software 2009. SYSYAT 13, statistics I. SYSTAT Software Inc., Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.Google Scholar