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Host-Parasite Interactions Within Food Webs, Adam Zvanut Hasik
Host-Parasite Interactions Within Food Webs, Adam Zvanut Hasik
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Parasitism is one of the most common life history strategies employed in nature, yet the effects of parasites are often thought to be minimal, and the vast majority of studies fail to consider parasites and their effects on host organisms. This is likely a problem, as the magnitude of parasite-mediated effects on their hosts can be quite large. Additionally, the effects of parasites are known to extend beyond the host to affect other species interactions. I used a series of approaches to gain a more integral understanding of host-parasite interactions by studying (1) the effects of parasites on biotic interactions …
Role Of Reptile-Invertebrate Interactions In Enigmatic Reptile Declines, Meredith Swartwout
Role Of Reptile-Invertebrate Interactions In Enigmatic Reptile Declines, Meredith Swartwout
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Reptile populations are declining world-wide and the mechanisms behind many of these declines remain enigmatic. Food web interactions (i.e., reduced prey availability or increased predation) have been implicated behind some reptile declines. However, relatively little is known about predation on lizard and snake eggs, despite egg survival being important for population dynamics of some species. Ants are important predators of squamate reptile eggs in tropical and temperate systems. In Costa Rica, long-term declines in terrestrial anole lizards were linked with reduced leaf litter depth, a factor that could influence egg vulnerability to ant predation. Fire ants (genus Solenopsis) are aggressive …