Overview

This book examines our current understanding of the population dynamics of one kind of interaction - that between insect parasitoids and their hosts. Parasitoids are amongst the most abundant of all animals, and make up about 10% or more of metazoan species. Almost no insect species escape their attack. Host-parasitoid interactions were first modelled over fifty years ago, but for many years there was little good empirical information on the important factors that affect host and parasitoid populations. The models were very simple, and their predictions rather divorced from the complexity of what was visible in the field. Now, better data is available on many components of host-parasitoid systems, from field observations and laboratory and field experiments, and this allows a much closer correspondence between models and data. In particular, the past twenty years have seen major advances in our understanding of how host-parasitoid interactions are influenced by spatial processes, by age-structure effects, and by competition from additional host and parasitoid species. The result is a body of theory that makes direct contact with real systems in the field, and provides us with a detailed understanding of what underpins a whole area of population dynamics. In this book, Michael P Hassell pulls the theory and field data together to present an elegant illustration of the way in which ecological studies advance.

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9780198540885

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There is [a] very practical reason why host-parasitoid interactions are central to ecology and why this book should be broadly read. The specialization of these species makes them prime candidates for use as biological control agents. . . . It would be hard to think of anyone better suited than Michael Hassell to review this field. His new book is a well-organized compendium of the myriad features that make or detract from stability in these tight interactions. . . . Hassell details the important role spatial heterogeneity plays in coexistence and control. Also new is a growing list of theoretical studies that include webs of interactions among several host-parasite combinations. He is careful throughout to point out current deficiencies in both our theoretical and empirical understanding of these systems. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in the theory of host-parasite interactions, and for those who just want to know more about ecological dynamics. --Nature

There is [a] very practical reason why host-parasitoid interactions are central to ecology and why this book should be broadly read. The specialization of these species makes them prime candidates for use as biological control agents. . . . It would be hard to think of anyone better suited than Michael Hassell to review this field. His new book is a well-organized compendium of the myriad features that make or detract from stability in these tight interactions. . . . Hassell details the important role spatial heterogeneity plays in coexistence and control. Also new is a growing list of theoretical studies that include webs of interactions among several host-parasite combinations. He is careful throughout to point out current deficiencies in both our theoretical and empirical understanding of these systems. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in the theory of host-parasite interactions, and for those who just want to know more about ecological dynamics. --Nature<br>

Author Information

Professor Michael P Hassell is Director of Silwood Park (Imperial College, London). He is a fellow of the Royal Society and currently President of the British Ecological Society. M P Hassell, Department of Biology, Imperial College, Silwood Park, Ascot Berks SL5 7PY 01344 294297 m.hassell@ic.ac.uk

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