Challenges in modelling complexity of fungal entomopathogens in semi-natural populations of insects

By Helen Hesketh, Helen E. Roy, Jørgen Eilenberg, J. Pell, R. S. Hails. BioControl (Dordrecht), 2009

120 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The use of fungal entomopathogens as microbial control agents has driven studies into their ecology in crop ecosystems. Yet, there is still a lack of understanding of the ecology of these insect pathogens in semi-natural habitats and communities. We review the literature on prevalence of fungal entomopathogens in insect populations and highlight the difficulties in making such measurements. We then describe the theoretical host-pathogen models available to examine the role that fungal entomopathogens could play in regulating insect populations in semi-natural habitats, much of the inspiration for which has been drawn from managed systems, particularly forests. We further emphasise the need to consider the complexity, and particularly the heterogeneity, of semi-natural habitats within the context of theoretical models and as a framework for empirical studies. We acknowledge that fundamental gaps in understanding fungal entomopathogens from an ecological perspective coupled with a lack of empirical data to test theoretical predictions is impeding progress. There is an increasing need, especially under current rapid environmental change, to improve our understanding of the role of fungi in insect population dynamics beyond the context of forestry and agriculture.

Subfields: Ecology, Insect Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e544e54d816cc639fbd7b6d5e3ee71a42e573da1

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

1. N. V. Meyling
2. Kristian Thorup-Kristensen
3. Helen E. Roy
4. J. Eilenberg
5. L. Lawson Handley
6. É. Lombaert
7. Cathleen E. Thomas
8. Arnaud Estoup

In Insect Science

1. N. V. Meyling
2. Kristian Thorup-Kristensen
3. J. Eilenberg
4. L. Lawson Handley
5. Helen E. Roy
6. Arnaud Estoup
7. J. Pell
8. S. Jaronski

Citations in the corpus

• Ecological genetics of invasive alien species (2011, methodology): “Understanding the interactions between invasive alien species and other species within an invaded range is challenging but essential, particularly for quantifying effects on communities (Roy et al. 2009; Hesketh et al. 2010), and developing practical approaches to the management of IAS.”
• Conservation biological control using fungal entomopathogens (2010, unknown): “Such studies would benefit from insights from theory, particularly metapopulation theory that considers populations linked by dispersal (Meyling and Hajek 2009) and modeling studies that seek to understand the role of reservoirs in pathogen population dynamics (Hesketh et al. 2009).”
• Below- and aboveground abundance and distribution of fungal entomopathogens in experimental conventional and organic cropping systems (2011, background): “This knowledge is important for understanding the impact of the fungi in regulating host populations and for epizootic development (Hesketh et al., 2010; Vega et al., 2009), but it is necessary to study local spatiotemporal abundance and distribution of fungal entomopathogens to evaluate below- and ”