reduced population control of an insect pest in managed willow monocultures减少人口控制害虫的柳树单一栽培管理.pdfVIP

Reduced Population Control of an Insect Pest in Managed Willow Monocultures 1 2 ¨ 1 Peter Dalin *, Oskar Kindvall , Christer Bjorkman 1 Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, 2 Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Abstract Background: There is a general belief that insect outbreak risk is higher in plant monocultures than in natural and more diverse habitats, although empirical studies investigating this relationship are lacking. In this study, using density data collected over seven years at 40 study sites, we compare the temporal population variability of the leaf beetle Phratora vulgatissima between willow plantations and natural willow habitats. Methodology/Principal Findings: The study was conducted in 1999–2005. The density of adult P. vulgatissima was estimated in the spring every year by a knock-down sampling technique. We used two measures of population variability, CV and PV, to compare temporal variations in leaf beetle density between plantation and natural habitat. Relationships between density and variability were also analyzed to discern potential underlying processes behind stability in the two systems. The results showed that the leaf beetle P. vulgatissima had a greater temporal population variability and outbreak risk in willow plantations than in natural willow habitats. We hypothesize that the greater population stability observed in the natural habitat was due to two separate processes operating at different levels of beetle density. First, stable low population equilibrium can be achieved by the relatively high density of generalist predators observed in natural stands. S