Andrew D. Taylor
PhD Duke (Zoology), 1984
Associate Professor
Department of Zoology, University of Hawai`i
2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson 152
Honolulu, HI 96822
fax: (808) 956-9812
taylor@hawaii.edu
www2.hawaii.edu/~taylor 

Population ecology, particularly of interspecific interactions

Selected Publications

My general area of interest is in population dynamics, particularly those of insect populations involved in predator-prey, parasitoid-host, or other interspecific interactions. I have been particularly interested in three topics: the effects of aspects of parasitoid biology on population dynamics; the effects of population spatial structure and metapopulation processes; and the application of these ideas to conservation biology and biological pest control. 

One current project concerns the population dynamics of what I term "sublethal" parasitoids: species whose hosts reproduce (though possibly at reduced rates) despite being parasitized. The "feather-legged fly" (Trichopoda pennipes; Diptera, Tachinidae), which parasitizes adults of its host (the southern green stinkbug, Nezara viridula; Hemiptera, Pentatomidae), has been used in experimental and observational studies describing this interaction. Mathematical models are now being used to explore the possible dynamic consequences of sublethality; these effects tend to be stabilizing but can be complex when age- or density-dependent effects are considered.

As an outgrowth of these studies of the Trichopoda–Nezara interaction, I have collaborated on studies of the impact on native bugs of Trichopoda and other parasitoids introduced to Hawai'i to control the stinkbug.

Another major research focus is on the dynamics of parasitoid-host "metapopulations" (ensembles of populations). Simulation models are being used to determine the circumstances under which parasitoid-host metapopulations persist; factors of interest include various forms of environmental variability, more complex spatial structures and density-dependent dispersal. 

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Selected publications 
(for a complete list please go to my personal website, www2.hawaii.edu/~taylor)

Taylor, A. D. 1988. "Parasitoid competition and the dynamics of host-parasitoid models." American Naturalist 132: 417-436.

Taylor, A. D. 1991. "Studying metapopulation effects in predator-prey systems." Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 42: 305-323 
[reprinted in M. Gilpin and I. Hanski (eds.), Metapopulation Dynamics: Empirical and Theoretical Investigations, Academic Press, San Diego]

Taylor, A. D. 1993. "Heterogeneity in host-parasitoid interactions: 'aggregation of risk' and the 'CV2 > 1 rule'." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 8: 400-405.

Taylor, A. D. 1998. "Environmental variability and the persistence of parasitoid-host metapopulation models." Theoretical Population Biology 53: 98-107.

Turchin, P., A. D. Taylor, and J. D. Reeve. 1999. "Dynamical role of predators in population cycles of a forest insect: an experimental test." Science 285: 1068-1071

Johnson, M. T., P. A. Follett, A. Taylor, and V. P. Jones. 2005. "Non-target impact of biological control on the native Hawaiian koa bug." Oecologia

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