Modeling and analyzing the combined effects of disease and population dynamics
is important in understanding the effects of mechanisms such as pathogen transmission
and direct competition between host species on the distribution and abundance of different
species in an ecological community. Mathematical analysis of such models in a
spatially explicit...
Studies were conducted on artificially infected susceptible and
resistant barley varieties in an attempt to determine the effect of
barley yellow dwarf virus on the growth and development of these
plants. A resistant and a susceptible variety were infected at four
stages of growth and harvested at two stages. Roots,...
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) is a major disease of wheat. Unfortunately, unlike barley where the Yd2 gene provides adequate levels of resistance, the situation in wheat is more complex. This study was designed to provide information regarding: 1) evaluation of methods of measuring resistance among selected cultivars; 2) identification...
Like other species interactions in ecological systems, host-pathogen interactions are influenced by environmental factors, landscape characteristics and the broader community context. My thesis explores the potential influences of food-web interactions (Chapter 2), climate change (Chapter 3), landscape structure and host movement patterns (Chapter 4), and the combined influences of local...