MODELOS MATEMÁTICOS PREDADOR-PRESA E APLICAÇÕES AO MANEJO INTEGRADO DE PRAGAS

Abstract

Mathematical modeling of predator-prey and host-parasitoid systems is an important tool for describing the interactions among pests and natural enemies in biological control programs. Predator-prey models developed by Lotka and Volterra have been improved with the insertion of relevant parameters for each type of study. Among the insertions made in models, approaches directed towards the integrated pest management have been implemented to evaluate the effect of insecticides in the predator-prey dynamics. It is possible to infer the effects of insecticide application and evaluate the dynamic behavior resultant of this application in prey, predator or host and parasitoid. One could also add stochasticity to the models' parameters, in order to obtain dynamic behavior simulations which are closer to reality, with the non-controllable variation effects taken into account. The development of new models is encouraged in this review, so as to the effects of the main factors which influence the dynamics in agroecosystems are more precisely modeled.