Abstract
The impact of a macroparasite on a host population which can exhibit highly complex dynamics is considered. We focus on the case where the host reproduces annually, in which case we couple within-season density dependent interactions with a discrete-time pulse to reflect seasonal reproduction. Results from analytic arguments, supported by extensive numerical simulations, indicate that within season parasite-induced host mortality is potentially capable of stabilising and simplifying host dynamics. Moreover, the interaction of demographic processes occurring on different time-scales is, in some cases, stabilising. In particular, parasite reduction in host fecundity, which is a destabilising process in the May and Anderson continuous time model, is found to stabilise host macroparasite interactions under certain conditions. These results are discussed in an ecological context.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 81-91 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Theoretical Biology |
Volume | 186 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 7 1997 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Immunology and Microbiology
- Applied Mathematics
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
- Statistics and Probability
- Modeling and Simulation