Session S01 - Modeling and Computation for Control and Optimization of Biological and Physical Systems

Thursday, July 15, 15:00 ~ 15:25 UTC-3

Modelling the effectiveness of parasitoid biological control on an invasive fruit fly in Senegal , West Africa

John E. Banks

California State University, Monterey Bay , United States   -   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tephritid fruit flies are global pests of economically important crops, and their life history ecology and population dynamics have been well-studied as part of efforts to develop effective management strategies. The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) is a widely distributed pest throughout the tropical regions of the Pacific Islands, Asia, and Africa, and has been the focus of many successful control campaigns that integrate augmentative, conservation, and classical biological control with IPM schemes. The recent establishment of B. dorsalis in West Africa, where it is a devastating pest on mangos, has created an urgent need to develop effective control strategies tailored to that region. We describe here a modelling effort describing the results of a biological control program aimed at reducing populations of B. dorsalis in Senegal, West Africa, based on the successful deployment of the braconid parasitoid Fopius arisanus (Sonan) to control B. dorsalis in other tropical regions. We employ a series of ordinary differential equations to model the population dynamics of B. dorsalis and its parasitoid F. arisanus, based on data from trap collections in three distinct regions of Senegal. The model tracks populations of egg and adult flies using temperature-dependent growth rates, linking biotic and abiotic factors parameterized with environmental data from each region. The rate of parasitism is modeled using a host-dependent functional response equation, and the elasticity, or model sensitivity, to the model parameters is analyzed using both local and global sensitivity methods in each of the three regions. We discuss differences in the effects of F. arisanus releases on B. dorsalis outbreaks in different regions across Senegal, and the implications for future biological control efforts.

Joint work with H.T. Banks (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC), Natalie G. Cody (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC), Annabel E. Meade (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC), Hang Nguyen (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC), Elhadji Omar Dieng (Crop Protection Directorate, Dakar, Senegal), Nicholas C. Manoukis (USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Hilo, HI), Stephanie Gayle (USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Hilo, HI) and Roger Vargas (USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Hilo, HI).

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