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Intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of mountain pine beetle population growth
Author(s) -
Trzcinski M. Kurtis,
Reid Mary L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
agricultural and forest entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.755
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1461-9563
pISSN - 1461-9555
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-9563.2008.00408.x
Subject(s) - mountain pine beetle , outbreak , population density , density dependence , population growth , population , biology , dendroctonus , ecology , bark beetle , demography , virology , sociology , bark (sound)
1 Mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae populations have large, economically significant outbreaks. Density dependence and environmental variability are expected to have important effects on their dynamics. We analysed time series data from an outbreak in the 1930s to determine the relative importance of population density and environmental variability on local population growth rates. 2 Resource depletion occurred rapidly at the scale of 0.4 ha and population growth rates were strongly density dependent. Annual environmental changes did not have detectable effects on population growth rates, leading to the conclusion that intrinsic processes influenced local population density more than extrinsic factors during this outbreak. 3 Our calculated value of r max (1.16) does not suggest intrinsically cyclic population dynamics. Our estimate of r max and density dependence will be useful in developing applied models of mountain pine beetle outbreaks, and the subsequent evaluation of management strategies.