Coevolution and the Stability of Exploiter-Victim Systems

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Abstract
Numerous experimental studies document the fact that the evolution of resistance in victim populations can reduce reproductive success in associated exploiter populations. This study examines the consequences of such evolved resistance on the population dynamics of one such exploiter population, a parasitic wasp (Nasonia vitripennis Walker) on a housefly host (Musca domestica L.) population. The result is a decreased tendency to oscillate, a reduced mean population size, and a reduced variance but an increase in the logarithmic variance. To the extent that mathematical theory applies, these results are consistent with that theory; however, it is clear that that theory is incomplete, especially with reference to nonlinear effects for populations which are not approximately in steady state.

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