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      Adaptive evolution of a generalist parasitoid: implications for the effectiveness of biological control agents

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          Abstract

          The use of alternative hosts imposes divergent selection pressures on parasitoid populations. In response to selective pressures, these populations may follow different evolutionary trajectories. Divergent natural selection could promote local host adaptation in populations, translating into direct benefits for biological control, thereby increasing their effectiveness on the target host. Alternatively, adaptive phenotypic plasticity could be favored over local adaptation in temporal and spatially heterogeneous environments. We investigated the existence of local host adaptation in Aphidius ervi, an important biological control agent, by examining different traits related to infectivity (preference) and virulence (a proxy of parasitoid fitness) on different aphid-host species. The results showed significant differences in parasitoid infectivity on their natal host compared with the non-natal hosts. However, parasitoids showed a similar high fitness on both natal and non-natal hosts, thus supporting a lack of host adaptation in these introduced parasitoid populations. Our results highlight the role of phenotypic plasticity in fitness-related traits of parasitoids, enabling them to maximize fitness on alternative hosts. This could be used to increase the effectiveness of biological control. In addition, A. ervi females showed significant differences in infectivity and virulence across the tested host range, thus suggesting a possible host phylogeny effect for those traits.

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          R: a language and environment for statistical computing

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            Spillover edge effects: the dispersal of agriculturally subsidized insect natural enemies into adjacent natural habitats.

            The cross-edge spillover of subsidized predators from anthropogenic to natural habitats is an important process affecting wildlife, especially bird, populations in fragmented landscapes. However, the importance of the spillover of insect natural enemies from agricultural to natural habitats is unknown, despite the abundance of studies examining movement in the opposite direction. Here, we synthesize studies from various ecological sub-disciplines to suggest that spillover of agriculturally subsidized insect natural enemies may be an important process affecting prey populations in natural habitat fragments. This contention is based on (1) the ubiquity of agricultural-natural edges in human dominated landscapes; (2) the substantial literature illustrating that crop and natural habitats share important insect predators; and (3) the clear importance of the landscape matrix, specifically distance to ecological edges, in influencing predator impacts in agroecosystems. Further support emerges from theory on the importance of cross-boundary subsidies for within site consumer-resource dynamics. In particular, high productivity and temporally variable resource abundance in agricultural systems are predicted to result in strong spillover effects. More empirical work examining the prevalence and significance of such natural enemy spillover will be critical to a broader understanding of fragmentation impacts on insect predator-prey interactions.
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              Analysis of aggregation, a worked example: numbers of ticks on red grouse chicks.

              The statistical aggregation of parasites among hosts is often described empirically by the negative binomial (Poisson-gamma) distribution. Alternatively, the Poisson-lognormal model can be used. This has the advantage that it can be fitted as a generalized linear mixed model, thereby quantifying the sources of aggregation in terms of both fixed and random effects. We give a worked example, assigning aggregation in the distribution of sheep ticks Ixodes ricinus on red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus chicks to temporal (year), spatial (altitude and location), brood and individual effects. Apparent aggregation among random individuals in random broods fell 8-fold when spatial and temporal effects had been accounted for.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Evol Appl
                Evol Appl
                eva
                Evolutionary Applications
                Blackwell Publishing Ltd
                1752-4571
                1752-4571
                September 2013
                05 August 2013
                : 6
                : 6
                : 983-999
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile Valdivia, Chile
                [2 ]Laboratorio de Interacciones Insecto-Planta, Instituto de Biología Vegetal y Biotecnología, Universidad de Talca Talca, Chile
                Author notes
                Blas Lavandero, Laboratorio de Interacciones Insecto-Planta, Instituto de Biología Vegetal y Biotecnología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile., Tel.: +56 71 2200271;, fax: +56 71 200276;, e-mail: blavandero@ 123456utalca.cl
                Article
                10.1111/eva.12081
                3779098
                24062806
                ca8ad0d6-768a-4962-aa9b-3020048168e9
                © 2013 The Authors. Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

                Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.

                History
                : 20 December 2012
                : 22 May 2013
                Categories
                Original Articles

                Evolutionary Biology
                aphidius ervi,biological control,divergent selection,infectivity,local adaptation,parasitoid,phenotypic plasticity,virulence

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