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Linking Environment To Ecology In Arid Land Consumers : Two Case Studies, Ian W. Murray

Biology ETDs

The physical environment has a profound influence over many aspects of animal ecology, such as governing the pace and timing of phenology and the patterns of activity across space and time. In extreme habitats such as deserts, the most important components of the physical environment are precipitation and temperature. Not only do these vary temporally and spatially, but this variation may influence the life history and ecology of species. My research examines how variance in temperature and precipitation influences the ecology of two species of desert dwelling consumers (desert woodrats and desert tortoises) over differing temporal scales. In Chapter 1, …