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Coupling unstable agents in biological control

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  • Theresa Wei Ying Ong

    (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

  • John H. Vandermeer

    (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

Abstract

It has long been a goal of farm policy to manage production in such a way that expensive off-farm inputs and negative environmental consequences can be simultaneously minimized. One generalized philosophy that has gained currency in recent years is autonomous pest control, in which complex ecological interactions are encouraged to maintain the ecosystem in a state of permanence with the pest below economic thresholds. Early experience with biological control was hampered significantly by the inherent instability of many of the control agents, suggesting that pursuit of the autonomous strategy could be difficult. Here we show that combining two unstable two-dimensional systems (pest–predator and pest–pathogen) produces a stable three-dimensional system (pest–predator–pathogen) that is robust to perturbations in initial conditions. Contrary to expectations, the inclusion of negative interactions, which are arguably a necessary consequence of increased complexity, can stabilize unstable conditions and rescue biological control of simpler, ineffective pest management systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Theresa Wei Ying Ong & John H. Vandermeer, 2015. "Coupling unstable agents in biological control," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6991
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6991
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    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Zeyan & Li, Jianjuan & Liu, Shuying & Zhou, Liuting & Luo, Yang, 2019. "A spatial predator–prey system with non-renewable resources," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 347(C), pages 381-391.
    2. AlAdwani, Mohammad & Saavedra, Serguei, 2022. "Feasibility conditions of ecological models: Unfolding links between model parameters," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 466(C).

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