The Multivariate Regression Models Suggested as Standardising Tools for Categorising Solitarious and Gregarious Groups of the Main Pest Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, Produce Reproducible Results
Metadatos
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Saadi, Somia; Bakkali, Noureddine; Martín-Blázquez, Rubén; Badih Akhrif, Abdelmounim; Bakkali, MohammedEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Locust Phase change Outbreak
Fecha
2024-02-01Referencia bibliográfica
Saadi, S.; Bakkali, N.; Martín-Blázquez, R.; Badih, A.; Bakkali, M. The Multivariate Regression Models Suggested as Standardising Tools for Categorising Solitarious and Gregarious Groups of the Main Pest Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, Produce Reproducible Results. Insects 2024, 15, 102. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15020102
Patrocinador
Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain, grant number PGC2018.097678.B.I00; ERASMUS+ International Dimension Programme at the University of GranadaResumen
Outbreaks of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria affect some of the poorest parts of
Africa, with devastating outcomes. The key to understanding and dealing with this problematic
adaptation to environmental changes is comparing gregarious and solitarious locusts, either in
nature or in laboratories. Categorising locusts and detecting changes in their phase status is key
to such comparisons, which have been hitherto based on applying mathematical models that use
behavioural parameters and that each laboratory has to build anew for each experiment. All the
models used thus far are different from one another. This implies differences in the tools used for
the different experiments and by the different laboratories and, thus, potential noise in the results
and interpretations. Standardising the way locusts are categorised is necessary if we want to reduce
noise and errors. It is crucial if we seek to make the results and interpretations transferable and
comparable between experiments and laboratories for such an important research area. To tackle this
problem, we suggested two models as possible standardising tools. However, the problem of a lack
of standardised tools re-emerged due to the doubts cast on the validity of those models. Here, we
use samples from independent S. gregaria populations in order to test and validate those models. We
discuss how successful the two models were at categorising solitarious, intermediate (transient), and
gregarious nymph and adult S. gregaria samples. We highlight shortcomings and make more specific
recommendations on the use of those models based on the precision differences they show when
categorising solitarious and gregarious S. gregaria nymph and adult samples. Overall, both models
have proven to be valid since their results were largely replicated and seem reproducible.