A Spatially Explicit Game-Theoretic Model of Optimal Defense Strategies in Herbaceous Plants with Herbivore Movement

In particular, host plant choice by insect herbivores has been shown to depend on the the presence and odor of chemical in the plant. Thus, if the chemical plume reaches far enough, allocation to defense may also be influenced by defense strategies employed by other plants in the environment.

We incorporate a neighborhood defense effect by applying spatial evolutionary game theory to optimal resource allocation in plants where cooperators are plants investing in defense and defectors are plants that do not. We use a stochastic dynamic programming model, along with ideas from game theory, to examine how defense strategies in individual plants influence population outcomes in herbaceous plants. We incorporate an individual-based model for the herbivore population and allow the herbivores to move between plants.