Modelling of graveyard growth rate and degree of hyperparasitism.
Graveyard growth rate λ (panel A) and proportion of cadavers non-hyperparasitized (panel B) as a function of developmental rate (x-axis) for the four different modelled scenarios. The variation in fungal developmental rate from .25% to 400% is plotted along the x-axes, relative to the average fungal development rate that was estimated from the field data (here represented by the relative value of 1). Panel A: The graveyard growth rate, which only accounts for the non-hyperparasitized individuals, is identical in scenario 1A and 1B, and is >1 across all developmental rates but peaks at fast to intermediate developmental rate. Scenario 2A and B are also identical, with negative growth rates at fast development rates but peaks with growth rates >1 at intermediate to slow developmental rates. Panel B: The four scenarios differ in the proportion of non-hyperparasitized cadavers across the developmental range. Scenario 1A and 1B have high rates of hyperparasitism at slow developmental rates. Note that as development rates increase, a greater proportion of cadavers escape hyper-parasitism in scenario 1B due to the faster senescence of the hyperparasitized cadavers. Scenario 2A and 2B show have increasing rates of hyperparasitism as the developmental rate increases due to the relative decrease in the inflow of new cadavers.