Doctoral Dissertation: The Link Between Parental Care Behavior and Recruitment in Largemouth Bass

拟议的研究的目标是检查的重要性，父母的照顾行为的招聘（定义为生存一年类的年龄-1）的大口鲈鱼。 大口黑鲈雄性筑巢，向那些巢献殷勤，与它们一起产卵，然后在它们从新产卵到独立的0岁幼鱼发育过程中照顾它们的幼鱼。 行为和巢特异性DNA指纹，微卫星DNA标记产生的个体差异，将被用来确定每个巢的相对贡献的青少年生存的第一个生长季节的人口和照顾行为对这些贡献的影响。 在父母的保护年轻的变化可能会导致巢之间的差异，在脆弱性巢捕食者，然而，这种巢级变化的效果招聘尚未tested.This研究解决了日益增长的需要，在人口生态学检查重要的人口过程之间的联系，如招聘，和行为的个体差异。 此外，确定负责确定鱼类补充成功的机制，对于商业和休闲渔业的适当管理至关重要。 更具体地说，这项研究将促进我们的理解，在大口黑鲈招聘的父母照顾的作用。

The goal of the proposed study is to examine the importance of parental care behavior to recruitment (defined here as survival of a year class to age-1) of largemouth bass. Largemouth bass males build nests, court females to those nests, spawn with them, and then provide care for their young as they develop from newly spawned eggs to independence as age-0 juveniles. Individual variation in behavior and nest-specific DNA fingerprints, generated with microsatellite DNA markers, will be used to determine both the relative contribution of each nest to the population of juveniles surviving their first growing season and the influence of care behavior on these contributions. Variation in parental protection of young likely causes differences among nests in vulnerability to nest predators, however, the effect of this nest-level variation on recruitment has not been tested.This study addresses the growing need in population ecology for examination of links between important population processes, such as recruitment, and individual differences in behavior. Furthermore, identification of mechanisms responsible for determining recruitment success in fishes is crucial for proper management of commercial and sport fisheries. More specifically, this study will advance our understanding of the role of parental care in largemouth bass recruitment.