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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Cross-Host Correlations And Multivariate Effects Of Herbivore Specialization, Daniel J. Zydek
Cross-Host Correlations And Multivariate Effects Of Herbivore Specialization, Daniel J. Zydek
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The distribution of insect herbivores among plant hosts is largely nonrandom: most herbivores have limited sets of hosts within one or a few plant families. This host use specialization is reinforced by traits that confer differential fitness across host plant species. Classic explanations for herbivore specialization predict that evolutionary trade-offs reinforce these relationships by imposing costs in the form of reduced potential fitness on alternative hosts, due to negative genetic correlations in fitness across hosts. This prediction that trade-offs constrain host use in herbivores can be tested with experimental evolution, by showing the direct evolutionary effects of host manipulation on …
Modeling Early Life: Ontogenetic Growth And Behavior Affect Population Connectivity In Gulf Of Mexico Marine Fish, Kelly Vasbinder
Modeling Early Life: Ontogenetic Growth And Behavior Affect Population Connectivity In Gulf Of Mexico Marine Fish, Kelly Vasbinder
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation is an examination of growth, behavior, and dispersal during the early life stages of marine fishes in the Gulf of Mexico. Understanding movements of early life stages is a key part of managing exploited fish populations. Position in the water column can impact larval dispersal, since it determines those currents to which larvae are exposed. First, I investigated the relationship between length and age in early life stages of marine fishes. I found that demersal fish taxa tend to be represented by exponential models, while pelagic fish tend to be represented by linear models. I suggest this may …