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Population dynamics of thrips prey and their mite predators in a refuge

  • Population Ecology
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Abstract

Prey refuges are expected to affect population dynamics, but direct experimental tests of this hypothesis are scarce. Larvae of western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis use the web produced by spider mites as a refuge from predation by the predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris. Thrips incur a cost of using the refuge through reduced food quality within the web due to spider mite herbivory, resulting in a reduction of thrips developmental rate. These individual costs and benefits of refuge use were incorporated in a stage-structured predator–prey model developed for this system. The model predicted higher thrips numbers in presence than in absence of the refuge during the initial phase. A greenhouse experiment was carried out to test this prediction: the dynamics of thrips and their predators was followed on plants damaged by spider mites, either with or without web. Thrips densities in presence of predators were higher on plants with web than on unwebbed plants after 3 weeks. Experimental data fitted model predictions, indicating that individual-level measurements of refuge costs and benefits can be extrapolated to the level of interacting populations. Model-derived calculations of thrips population growth rate enable the estimation of the minimum predator density at which thrips benefit from using the web as a refuge. The model also predicted a minor effect of the refuge on the prey density at equilibrium, indicating that the effect of refuges on population dynamics hinges on the temporal scale considered.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Arne Janssen for many contributions to this manuscript and to Maria Nomikou, Belén Belliure, Erik van Gool, Brechtje Eshuis and Christian Tudorache for discussions. Ludek Tikovsky and Harold Lemereis are thanked for greenhouse arrangements. Ronaldo Reis Jr and Tom van Dooren provided invaluable help in the statistical analysis. SM was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT-Praxis XXI, scholarship reference SFRH/BD/818/2000) and AP by CNPq-Brazil. The experiments performed comply with the current laws of the Netherlands.

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  1. Sara Magalhães

    Present address: Laboratoire Génétique et Environement, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Place Eugène Bataillon, cc 065, 34095, Montpellier, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBED, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Section Population Biology, P.O. Box 94084, 1090 GB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sara Magalhães, Marta Montserrat & Maurice W. Sabelis

  2. Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, Heteren, The Netherlands

    Paul C. J. van Rijn

  3. Department of Animal Biology, Section Entomology, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Angelo Pallini

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  1. Sara Magalhães
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  2. Paul C. J. van Rijn
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  3. Marta Montserrat
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  4. Angelo Pallini
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  5. Maurice W. Sabelis
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Correspondence to Sara Magalhães.

Additional information

Communicated by Thomas Hoffmeister.

Sara Magalhães and Paul C. J. van Rijn have contributed equally to this work.

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Magalhães, S., van Rijn, P.C.J., Montserrat, M. et al. Population dynamics of thrips prey and their mite predators in a refuge. Oecologia 150, 557–568 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0548-3

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