Prediction of Life History Traits in Invertebrate Species Exposed to Pesticide

Abstract

Due to environmental concerns, newer pesticides are becoming less lethal than older pesticides, thus leaving more survivors behind. Evaluating efficacy of a pesticide now requires more than just counting dead species. A deterministic, age-structured matrix model that incorporates a species' life history traits (such as birth rate, death rate and fecundity) has previously been used by ecologists. This model will be presented and discussed along with the continuous, age-structured model we introduce that involves a least-squares technique used to identify unknown parameters. We also discuss a statistical test used to test significance of additional parameters into our estimation.