Evaluation of Continuous Host-Parasitoid Models
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Academic Journals
Abstract
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In this paper the performance of continuous host-parasitoid models were investigated. The parameter
values for several well-known models: Lotka-volterra, Holling Tanner Type 2, Holling Tanner Type 3,
Leslie, Bazykin, Beddington-DeAngelis, Yodzis and Rosenzwing-Macarthur models were estimated. The
models were tested on 40 consecutive sets of time series data collected at 14 days interval for pest and
parasitoid population obtained from a highland cabbage growing area in Eastern Kenya. Model
parameters were estimated from the minimization of the loss functions between the theoretical and
experimental time series datasets following the Nelder-Mead multidimensional method. Initial values of
population size and parameters were randomly chosen. Durbin-Watson statistic was applied for
comparison of model outputs and experimental population trajectories. Among the eight different hostparasitoid
models, Holling Tanner model Type 3 presented relatively better approximations compared
to the other models.
Keywords
Diamondback moth, Population dynamics, Model parameters estimation, Biological control, Parasitoid impact