Dissertation Research: The Effects of Variation in Host Plant Quality on a Facultative Ant-Caterpillar Mutualism

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9902168FeenerUnderstanding the factors that affect species interactions are of central importance to many ecological processes. This study will examine how differences is host plant quality arising from a range of resource environments contribute to variation in the outcomes and participants of a facultative mutualism between ants and larvae of a butterfly (Thisbe irenea) in a Panamanian forest. These caterpillars produce nitrogen-rich secretions to attract ants in exchange for protection against predation. This study will be done using experimental manipulations of light and/or nutrients in common gardens in the forest. Other work will involve more controlled settings to determine how host plant characteristics affect the growth of the caterpillar. The responses of caterpillars and ants to variable plant quality may interact to produce a range of outcomes in the ant-caterpillar interaction which help explain the conditions for the success of the host plant and the caterpillar. It is hoped that understanding how variation in resource availability influences interacting members across trophic levels from plants to predators will help in unraveling the selection pressures and constraints that shape the evolution of multispecies interactions.