Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Dartmouth Scholarship

Freshwater environment

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Linking Direct And Indirect Data On Dispersal: Isolation By Slope In A Headwater Stream Salamander, Winsor H. Lowe, Gene E. Likens, Mark A. Mcpeek, Don C. Buso Feb 2006

Linking Direct And Indirect Data On Dispersal: Isolation By Slope In A Headwater Stream Salamander, Winsor H. Lowe, Gene E. Likens, Mark A. Mcpeek, Don C. Buso

Dartmouth Scholarship

There is growing recognition of the need to incorporate information on movement behavior in landscape-scale studies of dispersal. One way to do this is by using indirect indices of dispersal (e.g., genetic differentiation) to test predictions derived from direct data on movement behavior. Mark–recapture studies documented upstream-biased movement in the salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Plethodontidae). Based on this information, we hypothesized that gene flow in G. porphyriticus is affected by the slope of the stream. Specifically, because the energy required for upstream dispersal is positively related to slope, we predicted gene flow to be negatively related to change in elevation between …


Antipredator Behavior And Physiology Determine Lestes Species Turnover Along The Pond-Permanence Gradient, Robby Stoks, Mark A. Mcpeek Dec 2003

Antipredator Behavior And Physiology Determine Lestes Species Turnover Along The Pond-Permanence Gradient, Robby Stoks, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Identifying key traits that shape trade-offs that restrict species to only a subset of environmental gradients is crucial to understanding and predicting species turnover. Previous field experiments have shown that larvae of Lestes damselfly species segregate along the entire gradient of pond permanence and predator presence and that differential predation risk and life history constraints together shape their distribution. Here, we report laboratory experiments that identify key differences in behavior and physiology among species that structure their distributions along this gradient. The absence of adaptive antipredator behavioral responses against large dragonfly larvae and fish of Lestes dryas, the only species …


Linking Dispersal To Local Population Dynamics: A Case Study Using A Headwater Salamander System, Winsor H. Lowe Jan 2003

Linking Dispersal To Local Population Dynamics: A Case Study Using A Headwater Salamander System, Winsor H. Lowe

Dartmouth Scholarship

Dispersal can strongly influence local population dynamics and may be critical to species persistence in fragmented landscapes. Theory predicts that dispersal by resident stream organisms is necessary to offset the loss of individuals to downstream drift. However, there is a lack of empirical data linking dispersal and drift to local population dynamics in streams, leading to uncertainty regarding the general demographic significance of these processes and the power of drift to explain observed dispersal patterns. I assessed the contribution of dispersal along a first-order stream to population dynamics of the headwater salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Plethodontidae). I conducted mark–recapture surveys of …


The Consequences Of Changing The Top Predator In A Food Web: A Comparative Experimental Approach, Mark A. Mcpeek Feb 1998

The Consequences Of Changing The Top Predator In A Food Web: A Comparative Experimental Approach, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Changing the top predator in a food web often results in dramatic changes in species composition at lower trophic levels; many species are extirpated and replaced by new species in the presence of the new top predator. These shifts in species composition also often result in substantial alterations in the strengths of species interactions. However, some species appear to be little affected by these changes that cause species turnover at other positions in the food web. An example of such a difference in species responses is apparent in the distributions of coenagrionid damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera) among permanent water bodies with …