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

9623928莫里斯斑块和短暂的资源，如腐烂的水果被许多物种使用。 生活在同一块土地上的个体往往竞争非常激烈，但竞争者可能在区域内共存。 生活在腐烂水果中的昆虫通常具有高度聚集的种内分布，这可能会阻止竞争排斥并保持较高的物种多样性。 聚集分布增加了种内竞争的频率，并留下可能被其他物种殖民的空白斑块。 然而，聚集效应尚未在实地得到检验，可能会被其他机制所掩盖。 初步研究发现，许多种类的昆虫的幼虫生活在腐烂的果实树Apeiba膜，并有聚集分布。 这些昆虫可以聚集在三个嵌套的空间尺度：单个水果，整棵树，森林片段。 本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，实验测试聚集在这个系统中共存的重要性。 这项研究将提供一个第一个现场测试的重要性，聚集在促进物种共存的斑块和短暂的资源。 这项研究还将扩展现有的理论模型的共存，由于聚集，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.