DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Interacting Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Risks Across the Complex Life Cycle of a Neotropical Treefrog

本研究探讨了自然环境和天敌变化对热带树蛙卵和蝌蚪发育和存活的影响。(1)它研究了物理环境（温度、降雨、阴影）的变化如何影响卵的发育和存活，以及物理环境如何影响对卵的捕食。(2)研究卵环境中的非生物因素如何在蝌蚪孵化后对其产生持续影响。(3)研究了池塘环境如何影响蝌蚪对捕食者的反应，以及这对成年生存的影响。这项研究将用于模拟影响从卵到成年期生存的相互作用过程，以及这些过程在不同环境下的变化。这项研究将提高我们对影响两栖动物种群的过程的理解，包括栖息地和气候变化。更一般地说，它将揭示在复杂环境中发展是如何变化的。栖息地的变化和丧失是全球生物多样性下降的主要原因，特别是两栖动物，它们比许多其他动物对环境变化更敏感。通过了解两栖动物在不同环境中如何发展，自然资源保护主义者将更好地为未来栖息地的变化做好准备或改善。这项研究也将提供本科生研究机会，并用于美国和巴拿马的公共环境教育和推广。

This study addresses effects of variation in the physical environment and natural enemies on development and survival of the eggs and tadpoles of a tropical treefrog, Hyla ebraccata. (1) It examines how variation in the physical environment (temperature, rainfall, shading) affects egg development and survival, and how the physical environment affects predation upon eggs. (2) It examines how abiotic factors in an egg's environment may have continuing effects on tadpoles after hatching. (3) It examines how conditions in the pond environment affect tadpoles' responses to predators, and what implications this has for survival to adulthood. This research will be used to model interacting processes affecting survival from egg through adulthood, and how these vary across environments. This research will improve our understanding of the processes affecting amphibian populations, including habitat and climate change. More generally, it will reveal how development varies across complex environments. Habitat change and loss are the primary causes of declining global biodiversity, particularly of amphibians, which are more sensitive to environmental changes than many other animals. By understanding how amphibians develop in different environments, conservationists will be better informed to prepare for or ameliorate future habitat changes. This research will also provide undergraduate research opportunities, and be used in public environmental education and outreach in the US and Panama.