Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Beyond Predation: How Do Consumers Mediate Bottom-Up Processes In Ecosystems?, Bradley Austin Strickland

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By eating and scaring prey, predators can exert strong effects on communities and ecosystems. In addition, some animals may physically alter habitats and may recycle nutrients through digestion, both of which affect resources available to producers. Bottom-up effects initiated by large predators have not been well-studied and could prove to be important for understanding food webs and how ecosystems function. American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are abundant mobile predators that are capable of engineering aquatic habitats by moving organic material across ecosystem boundaries and creating and maintaining alligator ponds. In this dissertation, I documented the scale of ecological impacts …