Dissertation Research: The Effect of Agregation on the Coexistence of Insects Living in Rotting Fruits

9623928莫里斯斑驳和短暂的资源，如腐烂的水果，被许多物种利用。生活在同一地区的个人往往竞争非常激烈，但竞争对手可能会在地区共存。生活在腐烂果实中的昆虫通常具有高度聚集的种内分布，这可能防止竞争排斥和保持高度的物种多样性。聚集的分布增加了种内竞争的频率，并留下了可能被其他物种殖民的空地。然而，聚集的效果还没有在田间得到检验，而且可能会被其他机制淹没。初步研究发现，许多种类的昆虫及其幼虫生活在膜叶杏树腐烂的果实中，并具有聚集分布。这些昆虫可以在三个嵌套的空间尺度上聚集：单个水果、整棵树和森林碎片。这项研究将通过记录空间格局，测量竞争的强度和结构，操纵幼虫的分布，并调查捕食和聚集之间的相互作用，来实验测试聚集对该系统共存的重要性。这项研究将为聚集在促进零星和短暂资源中的物种共存方面的重要性提供首批实地测试之一。本研究还将扩展现有的聚集共存理论模型，以包括多个空间尺度。

9623928 Morris Patchy and ephemeral resources such as rotting fruit are used by many species. Individuals that live in the same patch often compete very strongly, yet competitors may coexist regionally. Insects that live in rotting fruit frequently have highly aggregated intraspecific distributions, which may prevent competitive exclusion and maintain high species diversity. An aggregated distribution increases the frequency of intraspecific competition and leaves empty patches that may be colonized by other species. However the effect of aggregation has not been tested in the field, and may be swamped by other mechanisms. Pilot studies have found many species of insects with larvae that live in the rotting fruit of the tree Apeiba membranacae, and have aggregated distributions. These insects can be aggregated at three nested spatial scales: individual fruit, whole trees, and forest fragments. This research will experimentally test the importance of aggregation for coexistence in this system by documenting spatial patterns, measuring the strength and structure of competition, manipulating distributions of larvae, and investigating the interaction between predation and aggregation. This research will provide one of the first field tests of the importance of aggregation in promoting species coexistence in patchy and ephemeral resources. This research will also extend the existing theoretical models of coexistence due to aggregation to include multiple spatial scales.