SUMMARY Nutritional regulation is a powerful mechanism used by generalist feeders to obtain the balance of nutrients they require from nutritionally diverse,perhaps unbalanced, foods. We examined nutritional regulation in a species with a narrow individual diet breadth: the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria. Fourth instar caterpillars were provided with artificial foods consisting of different ratios of protein to digestible carbohydrate in no-choice, choice and compensatory feeding experiments. In the no-choice test, caterpillars were confined to a single food source of varying protein/carbohydrate ratio for the duration of the fourth larval stadium. Caterpillars performed best on equal-ratio and slightly protein-biased diets. Significant reductions in performance were only observed on extremely protein-or carbohydrate-biased diets. Daily consumption of the three acceptable intermediate diets was consistent with volumetric regulation, but the timing of the moult to the next instar appeared linked instead to protein intake. In the choice test, caterpillars were provided with two complementary foods, one biased toward protein and the other toward carbohydrate, for the duration of the stadium. The caterpillars fed randomly from the two food sources presented to them, except for the extremely protein-biased diet (P:C ratio of 35:7),which they avoided. The compensatory feeding experiment tested whether forest tent caterpillars deprived of either protein or digestible carbohydrate would select a food containing the deficient nutrient. Insects were conditioned on either protein-only, carbohydrate-only, protein-and-carbohydrate or no-nutrient foods, then offered a choice between protein-only and carbohydrate-only foods. Unlike previously studied generalist feeders, our caterpillars did not compensate for protein deficiency and showed only very weak evidence of compensation for carbohydrate deficiency. Forest tent caterpillars are colonial trail-laying forest folivores that are generally confined to a single host plant and hence do not experience much diversity in food nutrient ratios. We show that forest tent caterpillars do not independently regulate protein and carbohydrate intake. These findings are consistent with predictions that nutritional regulation abilities should be less important in animals with narrower diet breadths.

Under neutral (pH 7·0) conditions, juvenile pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus exhibited significant antipredator responses, of similar intensities, to the chemical alarm cues of conspecifics, an allopatric congener the green sunfish Lepomis cyanellus and the artificial alarm cue of a sympatric prey guild member (Cyprinidae, hypoxanthine‐3‐N‐oxide). Under weakly acidic conditions (pH 6·0), however, no increase in antipredator behaviour was seen in response to hypoxanthine‐3‐N‐oxide and a quantitatively weaker response was found in response to conspecific and congener cues, suggesting that the use of chemical alarm cues by some prey fishes may be impaired by acid precipitation.

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The effect of removing lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) and retaining Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to reduce the risk of disturbance from mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk.) in mixed conifer stands in southern British Columbia, Canada, on population processes influencing outbreaks of western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Free.) was evaluated in 10 paired (open vs. closed) field plots. Overall feeding damage to Douglas-fir was significantly, but only slightly, lower in open stands compared with closed stands. Although open plots tended to recruit more budworms, the losses resulting from the dispersal of spring-emerging budworms in search of feeding sites were significantly greater in open plots. The forest management benefits of these early season losses were mitigated, however, by more mortality of budworms from natural enemies, particularly diseases, in the closed plots during the budworm feeding period. These results are discussed in terms of compensating population processes and balancing objectives in forest pest management. In this case, selective harvesting of lodgepole pine as a mitigation strategy for the mountain pine beetle conserved the midterm timber supply potential represented by associated Douglas-fir even in the presence of an outbreak of the western spruce budworm.Résumé : Dans les peuplements mélangés de conifères du sud de la Colombie-Britannique, au Canada, on élimine le pin tordu (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) en conservant le douglas de Menzies (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) pour réduire les risques de perturbation par le dendroctone du pin ponderosa (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk.). L'effet de cette pratique sur les processus démographiques qui influencent les épidémies de tordeuse occidentale de l'épinette (Choristoneura occidentalis Free.) a été évalué dans 10 paires (peuplements ouverts vs peuplements fermés) de parcelles sur le terrain. Globalement, les dommages subis par le douglas de Menzies à cause du broutement étaient, quoique légèrement, significativement plus faibles dans les peuplements ouverts que dans les peuplements fermés. Bien que les peuplements ouverts aient eu tendance à recruter plus de tordeuses, les pertes dues à la dispersion des tordeuses qui émergent au printemps à la recherche d'endroits pour se nourrir étaient plus élevées dans les peuplements ouverts. À la suite de ces pertes en début de saison, les bénéfices de l'aménagement forestier ont cependant été atténués par une plus forte mortalité des tordeuses causée par ses ennemis naturels, particulièrement les maladies, dans les peuplements fermés pendant la période de broutement de la tordeuse. La discussion porte sur la compensation des processus démographiques et l'équilibre entre les objectifs en lien avec le contrôle des ravageurs forestiers. Dans ce cas, la stratégie qui préconise la récolte sélective du pin tordu pour atténuer l'impact du dendroctone du pin ponderosa a permis de maintenir le potentiel d'approvisionnement en bois à mi...