Ant communities play a key role in the natural regulation of agricultural pests, acting through collective behavior and non-linear feedback at the ecosystem level. In coffee agroecosystems, interactions between ant populations and the Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) provide a paradigmatic example of biologically mediated pest suppression driven by low-dimensional dynamics rather than large-scale...
Anticipating the outcomes of genetic interventions requires combining population dynamics, genetics, and control theory. In this talk, we discuss a unified formulation that uses bilinear forms for inheritance matrices to model mating combinations in offspring, explicitly capturing complex mating systems such as polygyny and polyandry. We illustrate this approach through three models. First, we...
The oriental fruit fly, \textit{Bactrocera dorsalis}, is a major invasive pest and classified as a quarantine pest by the European Union. First recorded in La Réunion in April 2017, it is now established and causes serious damage, particularly in mango orchards. Due to the high biodiversity of La Réunion, chemical control is highly restricted, so only non-chemical tools can be used, such as...
The feeding preferences of \textit{Diabrotica speciosa} (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) generate a parent-offspring conflict, as selecting the optimal host for offspring development can negatively affect adult survival and fecundity. Understanding this conflict is essential for developing effective pest-management strategies. We investigated the foraging behavior of \textit{D. speciosa} using an...
In this minisymposium, we will explore a range of mathematical and computational approaches for modeling population dynamics. Topics will include agent-based models, differential equations, qualitative analysis, and evolutionary dynamics, with an emphasis on applications to real-world biological and ecological systems, particularly in the context of insect pest management.
