Mathematical Analysis of Host–Parasitoid Interactions in Continuous Time Frameworks

Abstract

Eight continuous host–parasitoid models—including Lotka–Volterra, Holling Tanner Types 2 and 3, Leslie, Bazykin, Beddington–DeAngelis, Yodzis, and Rosenzweig–MacArthur—were evaluated against biweekly pest and parasitoid abundance data collected over 40 time points from cabbage fields in Eastern Kenya. Model parameters were optimized via the Nelder–Mead method by minimizing discrepancies between theoretical predictions and field observations, using random initial estimates. The Durbin–Watson statistic served as the criterion for comparing model fit. The Holling Tanner Type 3 model consistently outperformed all others in tracking experimental population trajectories.

Parasitoid, models, Holling Tanner