Parameterizing foodwebs using species traits

We are interested in the outcomes of predator-prey interactions between insects. To parameterize these interactions, we leverage a "trait-based" description, in which ecological interactions (e.g., attack rates) are explicitly described in terms of insect biology (e.g., metabolism).

The motivation for this work is to reduce the burden of data collection for model fitting and isolate the interactions leading to different pest control outcomes. Below are some important components of the research.

• Effects of body mass on mobility, predation
• Effects of habitat use on encounter rates
• Fitting to experimental data (field and lab)

This project is nearing completion and the model is in use for another project. There may be some room to study more efficient use of associated experimental data, including details maps of mesocosm habitat use.

Collaborators

Alva Curtsdotter

UNE

Community Ecologist

Kate Wootton

SLU/UCB

Network Ecologist

Tomas Jonsson

US/SLU

Theoretical Ecologist

Tomas Roslin

SLU

Insect Ecologist

John E. Banks

CSUMB

Entomologist

H. Tom Banks

NCSU

Applied Mathematician

Riccardo Bommarco

SLU

Agricultural Entomologist

Note: Mattias Jonsson and Michael Traugott also contributed to this work, but their involvement pre-dated my own.

Publication List

• Eric Stell, Riccardo Bommarco, A.N. Laubmeier, Helmut Meiss, Olivier Therond. From a local descriptive to a generic predictive model of cereal aphid regulation by predators. Under review, 2023.
  Contribution Statement: I made minor contributions to methods and code for results generated by ES.


• Kate Wootton, A.N. Laubmeier, Alva Curtsdotter, Tomas Jonsson, H.T. Banks, Riccardo Bommarco, and Tomas Roslin. Beyond body size—new traits for new heights in trait-based modelling of predator-prey dynamics. PloS one, 2022.
  Contribution Statement: I generated preliminary results for this manuscript and aided KW in composing portions of the manuscript concerning the mathematical model and methods.


• Alva Curtsdotter, H.T. Banks, J.E. Banks, Mattias Jonsson, Tomas Jonsson, A.N. Laubmeier, Michael Traugott, and Riccardo Bommarco. Ecosystem functioning in predator-prey food webs - confronting dynamic food web models with population empirical data. Journal of Animal Ecology, 2018.
  Contribution Statement: I generated the preliminary results for this manuscript and aided AC in revising portions of the manuscript related to mathematical methods or results.


• H.T. Banks, J.E. Banks, Riccardo Bommarco, Alva Curtsdotter, Tomas Jonsson, A.N. Laubmeier. Parameter estimation for an allometric food web model. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 2017.
  Contribution Statement: I generated the numerical results for this manuscript and shared responsibility for drafting and revising the manuscript with AC.