Estimation and Analysis of Insect Populations Proceedings of a Conference held in Laramie, Wyoming, January 25–29, 1988

The papers in this volume were presented at a symposium/workshop on "The Estimation and Analysis of Insect Populations" that was held at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in January, 1988. The meeting was organized with financial support from the United States - New Zealand Cooperative Science Program and the University of Wyoming. The purpose was to bring together approximately equal numbers of quantitative biologists and biometricians in order to (1) provide a synthesis and evaluation of currently available methods for modeling and estimating parameters of insect population, and to (2) stimulate research into new methods where this is appropriate. The symposium/workshop attracted 46 participants. There were 35 papers presented in four subject areas: analysis of stage-frequency data, modeling of population dynamiCS, analysis of spatial data, and general sampling and estimation methods. New results were presented in all these areas. All except one of the papers is included in the present volume.

Section I Analysis of Stage-Frequency Data.- A Review of Methods for the Analysis of Stage-frequency Data.- Life Tables, Parasitism: Estimating Parameters in Joint Host-Parasitoid Systems.- From Cohort Data to Life Table Parameters via Stochastic Modeling.- Estimation of Stage-Specific Demographic Parameters for Zooplankton Populations: Methods Based on Stage-Classified Matrix Projection Models.- Compartmental Models in the Analysis of Populations.- Modeling Grasshopper Phenology with Diffusion Processes.- Estimation of Relative Trappabilities by Age and Development Delays of Released Blowflies.- A Stochastic Model for Insect Life History Data.- Nonparametric Estimation of Insect Stage Transition Times.- Problems Associated with Life Cycle Studies of a Soil-Inhabiting Organism.- Section II Modeling of Population Dynamics.- A Review of Methods for Key Factor Analysis.- Are Natural Enemy Populations Chaotic?.- Demographic Framework for Analysis of Insect Life Histories.- Stochastic Differential Equations as Insect Population Models.- Intensive Study and Comparison of Single Species Population Simulation Models.- Potential Use of an Engineering-Based Computer Simulation Language (SLAM) for Modeling Insect Systems.- Modeling Southern Pine Beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Population Dynamics: Methods, Results and Impending Challenges.- Application of Catastrophe Theory to Population Dynamics of Rangeland Grasshoppers.- Derivation and Analysis of Composite Models for Insect Populations.- Leslie Matrix Models for Insect Populations with Overlapping Generations.- Relationships Among Recent Models for Insect Population Dynamics with Variable Rates of Development.- Models of Development in Insect Populations.- Section III Analysis of Spatial Data.- A Significance Test for Morisita’s Index of Dispersion and the Moments when the Population is Negative Binomial and Poisson.- Spatial Analysis of the Relationship of Grasshopper Outbreaks to Soil Classification.- Use of Multi-Dimensional Life Tables for Studying Insect Population Dynamics.- Measures of the Dispersion of a Population Based on Ranks.- A Model of Arthropod Movement within Agroecosystems.- Section IV General Sampling, Estimation Methods.- Intervention Analysis in Multivariate Time Series via the Kalman Filter.- Estimating the Size of Gypsy Moth Populations using Ratios.- Numerical Survival Rate Estimation for Capture-recapture Models using SAS PROC NLIN.- Sampling Forest Canopy Arthropods Available to Birds as Prey.- Design Based Sampling as a Technique for Estimating Arthropod Population in Cotton over Large Land Masses.- DISCRETE, a Computer Program for Fitting Discrete Frequency Distributions.- Calibration of Biased Sampling Procedures.- Arthropod Sampling Methods in Ornithology: Goals and Pitfalls.