Geographical variation in the population dynamics of Thecodiplosis japonensis: causes and effects on spatial synchrony

• Published in: Population ecology Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 429 - 439
• Main Authors: Choi, Won Il, Ryoo, Mun Il, Chung, Yeong-Jin, Park, Young-Seuk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Springer Japan 01.07.2011; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal populations; Autocorrelation function; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Coniferous forests; Ecology; Evolutionary Biology; Forestry; Forests; Insects; Invasive species; Life Sciences; Macroecology; Nonnative species; Nonparametric spatial covariance functions; Original Article; Pine needle gall midge; Pine needles; Plant Sciences; Population density; Population dynamics; Precipitation; Predation; Self‐organizing map; Spatial synchrony; Temperature; Thecodiplosis japonensis; Zoology; Autocorrelation function; Invasive species; Nonparametric spatial covariance functions; Pine needle gall midge; Spatial synchrony; Self-organizing map
• ISSN: 1438-3896; 1438-390X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10144-011-0263-8

Geographical variation in population dynamics of a species offers an opportunity to understand the factors determining observed patterns of spatial dynamics. We evaluated the spatial variation in the population dynamics of the pine needle gall midge (PNGM), Thecodiplosis japonensis , which is a severe insect pest in pine forests in Korea, and studied the influences of weather factors that could affect its population dynamics. Results revealed that PNGM population dynamics were classified into five clusters based on the analysis of autocorrelation function and self-organizing map, which is an artificial neural network. We also quantified spatial synchrony in the population dynamics of PNGM using the nonparametric covariance function. Variation in spatial synchrony was strongly related to differences in maximum temperature and precipitation in Random Forest analysis, suggesting that the synchrony in PNGM population dynamics is largely the result of the Moran effect. In addition, spatial differences in population dynamics could be influenced by transient process of synchronization following invasion. Finally, the present results indicate that differences in population dynamics can be induced by interactions among several factors such as maximum temperature, precipitation, and invasion history of species.