Dissertation Research: Interactions in a Stage-Structured Species: Resource Mediated Stage Dynamics

9520840米特尔巴赫生态学家早就理解资源利用在定义物种相互作用和这些相互作用的人口和社区水平的后果的重要性。在阶段结构的物种中，不同的阶段可以利用自身相互作用的资源，从而影响阶段之间的动态。本论文的研究将探讨这种情况，通过研究动态的幼虫和成年蓝鳃金龟的资源，小型和大型浮游动物。这两种资源往往是负相关的湖泊，可能是由于竞争，捕食，或存在一个避难所捕食。浮游动物的大小结构的湖泊可能会影响每个阶段的生长和生存，因为成年的蓝鳃鱼的增长是正相关的大型浮游动物的丰度，而幼虫蓝鳃鱼的间隙有限的觅食。将进行比较和实验研究，以测试由资源相互作用介导的蓝鳃鱼特定阶段生长和生存的预测。这项研究旨在提高我们对调节阶段结构种群的过程的机械理解，从而有助于澄清这些物种对群落结构和功能的贡献。

9520840 Mittelbach Ecologists have long understood the importance of resource use in defining species interactions and the population and community level consequences of these interactions. In stage-structured species, different stages may utilize resources which themselves interact, thereby influencing dynamics between the stages. This dissertation research will examine such a situation by studying the dynamics of larval and adult bluegill in relation to their resources, small and large zooplankton. These two resources are often negatively correlated in lakes, possibly due to competition, predation, or the presence of a refuge from predation. The zooplankton size-structure of a lake may affect the growth and survival of each bluegill stage because growth of adult bluegill is positively related to the abundance of large zooplankton, while larval bluegill are gape-limited foragers. Comparative and experimental studies will be conducted to test predictions of stage-specific growth and survival of bluegill as mediated by resource interactions. This research seeks to improve upon our mechanistic understanding of the processes that regulate stage-structured populations, thereby helping to clarify the contribution that these species make to community structure and function.