Dissertation Research: Local vs. Regional Control of Zooplankton Community Structure

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9972656Leibold and ShurinUniversity of ChicagoZooplankton communities are structured by biotic and abiotic factors but also by dispersal among habitats. Patterns of regional diversity suggest that there is not limit to local diversity and that species are limited by dispersal. Experimental introductions of species, however, indicate that communities are nearly saturated with species. This proposal would resolve this contrast by examining the assumption that species interactions place an upper limit on local diversity. It presents a metapopulation model to examine the effects of competition, predation and dispersal limitation on patterns of local and regional diversity. It would test the model empirically examining the role of predation as it influences zooplankton communities and consider the interactions of dispersal and predation.