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The effects of natural enemies, competition, and host plant water availability on an aphid population

Publication ,  Journal Article
Morris, WF
Published in: Oecologia
June 1, 1992

I used a factorial experiment repeated in two years to assess the relative effects of natural enemy attack, interspecific competition, and water availability to the host plant, and of interactions among these factors, on the population dynamics of the aphid Aphis varians feeding on fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium). The impact of a suite of coccinellid and syrphid predators emerged as the predominant factor affecting the success of aphid colonies: colonies protected from natural enemies grew in size at a rate of ten percent per day, were only one tenth as likely to go extinct, and produced over ten times more dispersing alates. In contrast, I found only minor effects of removing flea beetles, the most abundant herbivore with which A. varians colonies cohabit fireweed stems, and of supplementing water availability to fireweed host plants, in spite of a significant effect of watering frequency on aphid growth in the green-house. There was no evidence of significant two- or three-way interactions among factors. Hence, despite the potential complexity of the food web in which it is embedded, the dynamics of A. varians appears to be driven predominantly by a single factor, i.e. interactions with natural enemies. © 1992 Springer-Verlag.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Oecologia

DOI

EISSN

1432-1939

ISSN

0029-8549

Publication Date

June 1, 1992

Volume

90

Issue

3

Start / End Page

359 / 365

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 0602 Ecology
 

Citation

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MLA
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Morris, W. F. (1992). The effects of natural enemies, competition, and host plant water availability on an aphid population. Oecologia, 90(3), 359–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317692
Morris, W. F. “The effects of natural enemies, competition, and host plant water availability on an aphid population.” Oecologia 90, no. 3 (June 1, 1992): 359–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317692.
Morris, W. F. “The effects of natural enemies, competition, and host plant water availability on an aphid population.” Oecologia, vol. 90, no. 3, June 1992, pp. 359–65. Scopus, doi:10.1007/BF00317692.
Journal cover image

Published In

Oecologia

DOI

EISSN

1432-1939

ISSN

0029-8549

Publication Date

June 1, 1992

Volume

90

Issue

3

Start / End Page

359 / 365

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 0602 Ecology