Abstract
We tested for the existence of density dependence in annual adult rangeland grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) data from Montana, USA (1951–1991). Statistical density dependence was, in the sense of a stochastic equilibrium or return tendency, detected in all of the grasshopper mean density time-series from the three major physiographic regions of the state, Northern Glaciated Plains, Southern Unglaciated Plains, and Western Mountains. Parameters were estimated for a model that described the stochastic equilibrium characteristics of regional mean densities. The analyses showed that rangeland grasshopper regional densities fluctuate according to gamma distribution with a mean of 6.1–6.3 grasshoppers per m2. Further, when regions exhibit outbreaks, the resulting infestation period (duration of outbreak) is short, spanning only a few generations.
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Kemp, W.P., Dennis, B. Density dependence in rangeland grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Oecologia 96, 1–8 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318023
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318023