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

[9972656]芝加哥大学莱博尔德和舒林浮游动物群落是由生物和非生物因素构成的，但也由栖息地之间的分散构成。区域多样性的格局表明，物种的多样性不受地方的限制，物种的分布受到限制。然而，物种引进的实验表明，群落的物种接近饱和。这一提议将通过检验物种相互作用对局部多样性设置上限的假设来解决这一矛盾。本文提出了一个元种群模型来考察竞争、捕食和扩散限制对本地和区域多样性模式的影响。它将对该模型进行实证检验，考察捕食对浮游动物群落的影响，并考虑扩散和捕食之间的相互作用。

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.