**Group 2**
====== Hawkmoths: pollinators that are herbivores ======

Wiki site of the practical exercise of the [[http://www.ictp-saifr.org/mathbio4|IV Southern-Summer School on Mathematical Biology]].

Here you will find the exercise assignment and the group's products. 

If you are a group member login to edit this page, create new pages from it, and upload files.

===== Introduction =====

{{ http://eebweb.arizona.edu/faculty/bronstein/Bronstein_Lab/PROJECTS_files/droppedImage.jpg?200}}

Adults of the hawkmoth //Manduca sexta// are the main pollinators of the Sacred Datura (//Datura wrightii//) in the western deserts of North America. Oddly enough, //Datura// leaves are the main food of the hawkmoth's larvae. The evolutionary costs and benefits for both species have been extensively investigated. Population dynamics is much less explored.

===== Assignment =====

Identify the key players of this system and their roles. Propose a model for their population dynamics that take into account the relevant biological information available.

==== Suggested questions ====

  * What is the minimal model that predict coexistence of a plant and a pollinator that is also his herbivore ?
  * Can this minimal model describe properly population dynamics of the system //Datura// / hawkmoth ? If not, what key biological aspect of the system should be considered?

===== References =====

  * Bronstein, J.L., T.H. Huxman, and G. Davidowitz (2009). Reproductive biology of Datura wrightii: the benefits of associating with an herbivorous pollinator. Annals of Botany 103: 1435-1443. 
  * [[http://eebweb.arizona.edu/faculty/bronstein/Bronstein_Lab/PROJECTS.html|Jude Bronstein Lab Site]]

===== Group results =====

  * {{:2015:groups:g2:group_2.pdf|}}