| Notes: | Advisor: John T. Wootton.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Chicago, Division of the Biological Sciences, and The Pritzker School of Medicine, Department of Ecology and Evolution, 2015.
Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 76-08(E), Section: B.
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| Summary: | Researchers investigating species interactions have long been concerned that these interactions often include multiple processes that operate at disparate temporal scales. Despite this, studies that explicitly address the role of temporal scale in determining the population consequences of species interactions remain scarce in the literature. Using a well-studied intertidal predator prey system (Nucella ostrina and Balanus glandula), I provide several tools to advance our understanding of how temporal disparity between ecological processes can affect system dynamics: (1) a mechanistic model that specifically addresses temporal disparity between reproduction and predation, (2) empirical data on species' responses across multiple time scales to each other's abundances, and (3) an experimental manipulation nested within geographic regions that vary in the temporal disparity of their ecological. Developing these tools allows me to address several important questions in trophic ecology. How does predation over short time intervals translate to annual reproductive output of predator populations? How do predators respond to seasonal variation in prey availability? Within naturally occurring population sizes, how do predators response to changes in prey abundance?
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