The relative strengths of rapid and delayed density dependence acting on a terrestrial herbivore change along a pollution gradient

1. Animal populations vary in response to a combination of density dependent and density independent forces, which interact to drive their population dynamics. Understanding how abiotic forces mediate the form and strength of density dependent processes remains a central goal of ecology, and is of increasing urgency in a rapidly changing world. 2. Here, we report for the first time that industrial pollution determines the relative strength of rapid and delayed density dependence operating on an animal population. We explored the impacts of pollution and climate on the population dynamics of an eruptive leafmining moth, Phyllonorycter strigulatella, around a coal fired power plant near Apatity, northwestern Russia. Populations were monitored at 14 sites over 26 years. 3. The relative strengths of rapid and delayed density dependence varied with distance from the power plant. Specifically, the strength of rapid density dependence increased while the strength of delayed density dependence ...