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Dietary Effects On The Stoichiometry Of Growth, Regulation, And Wastes Of Ozark Stream Insect Detritivores, Halvor Matthew Halvorson
Dietary Effects On The Stoichiometry Of Growth, Regulation, And Wastes Of Ozark Stream Insect Detritivores, Halvor Matthew Halvorson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
A widespread stressor, anthropogenic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution can increase resource nutrient content and alter animal community composition in freshwater ecosystems. In this dissertation, I used ecological stoichiometry theory to examine effects of diet nutrient content and leaf litter type on growth, regulation, and wastes of aquatic invertebrate detritivores. I tested effects of leaf litter diet carbon:phosphorus (C:P) on growth and stoichiometric regulation of the detritivorous caddisfly Pycnopsyche lepida and used results to determine a threshold elemental ratio of oak litter C:P=1620 that confers peak growth of this species. This empirical, growth-based approach provided a more accurate estimate …