Spatial analysis of harmonic oscillation of gypsy moth outbreak intensity

Abstract

Outbreaks of many forest-defoliating insects are synchronous over broad geographic areas and occur with a period of approximately 10 years. Within the range of the gypsy moth in North America, however, there is considerable geographic heterogeneity in strength of periodicity and the frequency of outbreaks. Furthermore, gypsy moth outbreaks exhibit two significant periodicities: a dominant period of 8-10 years and a subdominant period of 4-5 years. In this study, we used a simulation model and spatially referenced time series of outbreak intensity data from the Northeastern United States to show that the bimodal periodicity in the intensity of gypsy moth outbreaks is largely a result of harmonic oscillations in gypsy moth abundance at and above a 4 km(2) scale of resolution. We also used geographically weighted regression models to explore the effects of gypsy moth host-tree abundance on the periodicity of gypsy moths. We found that the strength of 5-year cycles increased relative to the strength of 10-year cycles with increasing host tree abundance. We suggest that this pattern emerges because high host-tree availability enhances the growth rates of gypsy moth populations.