Biology 2483A Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Green Anaconda, Flesh Fly, Intact Forest Landscape
16 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Topic: landscape ecology and ecosystem management: landscape ecology examines spatial patterns and their relationship to ecological processes. The dynamics of insect predator-prey systems and the severity of insect pest outbreaks may be strongly affected by the spatial heterogeneity of natural environments. Forest tent caterpillar undergoes classic predator-prey cycles: female lays many eggs on golden aspen, sends out silk threads. Very effective at defoliating aspen tree, forest can be bare if huge outbreak. Friendly fly (large flesh fly) is a host to a virus that knocks down the cycle: parasitoid. Example: golden aspen is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of n. america: occurs in boreal forest, jens roland looked at scales of distribution of forest districts. Patches are stippled (forested) and white (non-forested: how much edge is in each one of these districts, quantified the edge. Looks at relationship of outbreaks, duration of outbreaks + edge: found a relationship of heterogeneity and years of outbreak.
