I used a theoretical model to determine the conditions under which Cactoblastis cactorum populations would be expected to experience positive population growth. Results from simulations suggest that host species richness, host quality, and the C. cactorum death rate interact to determine the probability of C. cactorum positive population growth. I also studied the influence of host diversity empirically. Cactoblastis cactorum prevalence was significantly higher when O. stricta was present in the community. Also, higher species richness within host assemblages led to a higher prevalence of infestation than in single-species host assemblages. Finally, I explored cooccurrence patterns of native cactuseeding insects in an effort to document the impact of C. cactorum to native insect assemblages. The presence of C. cactorum in a community did not appear to affect the structure of native cactuseeding insect assemblages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-5322 |
| Date | 08 August 2009 |
| Creators | Sauby, Kristen Erica |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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