Numerical simulation of the biological control of the chestnut gall wasp with T. Sinensis

Portugal is a country that produces chestnuts. However, in recent years, a D. kuriphilus plague has invaded chestnut trees and signi cantly afected the chestnut production. Studies in other countries, such as Japan or Italy, have shown that the T. sinensis parasitoid can achieve biological control and help to eradicate the invader. In this work, the evolution of the density of D. kuriphilus and T. sinensis eggs across time and space is studied through the numerical solution of mathematical models previously proposed. It is concluded that the biological control with T. sinenis operates and thus eradicates D. kuriphilus from the infected area. However, the simulations also show that biological control is not efective over time, as D. kuriphilus returns to the same area. Therefore, it would be necessary to reinject T. sinensis periodically into the infected zones for a sustained ght against D. kuriphilus.

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