Nocturnal rodents were censused every two weeks from January 1975 until September 1976 on two 1.69 ha (4.13 ac) live-trap grids. Grids were located about 48 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tucson AZ in a cresosote bush-cactus-mesquite-grassland ecotone. All nocturnal rodents, except Dipodomys merriami, were removed from one of the grids beginning in May 1975 and continuing biweekly until September 1976. Effects on the population biology of D. merriami were subsequently analyzed. Density, home range, weight changes, production of young, sex ratio and minimum residence (time between first and last capture) of D. merriami were analyzed on each grid. Effects of removal on D. merriami were minimal. Density on the removal grid increased immediately after removal began; however, this effect decreased with time, as numbers of d. merriami decreased on both grids. Total heteromyid density on the control grid also decreased during the experiment. Removal caused no significant effect on home range. A similar, consistently inverse relationship between home range and density occurred on both grids. Mean weight for both reproductively active and inactive males and females was not significantly different following removal. The number of juveniles increased slightly after removal began, but production of young on both grids was similar, and low. The two populations exhibited different sex ratios for four months after removal began, with males being caught more frequently on the removal grid. Minimum residence times were similar on both grids. It appears that the relatively increased availability of reources had only a temporary effect on D. merriami. In the longer perspective, D. merriami seems to have exhibited what is probably an evolved response to increased resources; i.e., long-term changes in population parameters occur slowly, and only when improved conditions persist for relatively long periods of time.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Science University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg SOUTH AFRICA / A three-year study was undertaken In the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa to Investigate the competitive effects of the grass Setaria megaphylla on the growth of the tree species Pinus patula. A replacement series field trial, where six different competition regimes were Implemented, clearly demonstrated the suppressive effects of S. ( Abbreviation abstract ) / AC2017

Cyanobacterial blooms in lakes impact human health, the economy, and ecosystem health. It is predicted that climate change will promote and increase the frequency and intensity of cyanobacterial blooms due to unique physiological adaptions that allow cyanobacteria to exploit warm stable water bodies. Key cyanobacteria physiological adaptions include nitrogen fixation, buoyancy regulation and higher optimum growth temperatures. The largest uncertainty of predicting the effect of climate change is in understanding how the interactions among species will change. Adding to the ambiguity, cyanobacteria physiological adaptions can vary based on lakespecific ecotypes and can have different sensitivities to temperature. It is critical to understand how cyanobacterial physiological adaptions impact species interactions in order to improve and devise adaptable, short‐term management methods for bloom control. This study investigated how weather patterns and algal buoyancy regulation influence the competition and accumulation of two bloom‐forming buoyant cyanobacteria species (Aphanizomenon flos‐aquae (APFA) and toxin‐forming Microcystis aeruginosa (MSAE)) in Upper Klamath Lake (UKL), Oregon. The focus was confirming the buoyancy rate of the APFA in Upper Klamath Lake and exploring whether short‐term weather conditions could lead to dangerous accumulations of APFA or MSAE. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on the model's buoyancy terms and growth curves to see if the outcome of competition was influenced by these parameters. UKL specific buoyancy rates were measured on APFA from samples taken directly from the lake in the summer of 2015. Tracking software was used to measure APFA movement through water, and individual colony movement was averaged to obtain a single buoyancy rate. There was a high degree of agreement between the calculated APFA buoyancy rate in UKL (0.89 ± 0.34 m hr-1) with the rate published by Walsby (1995; 0.9 ± 0.5 m hr-1). This study investigated how weather patterns and buoyancy regulation influenced the outcome of competition between APFA and MSAE. Weather and water column temperature data were collected from UKL in the summer of 2016. A onedimensional hydrodynamic model was used to calculate the lake's thermal and turbulence structure on days with contrasting weather patterns (hot/cool and windy/calm). A competition model was used to calculate the accumulation of APFA and MSAE cells in regular intervals through the water column under the various weather scenarios. MSAE accumulation was significantly influenced by the thermal and turbulence regimes, but APFA maintained high accumulations under every regime and was the better competitor under every thermal and turbulence regime. MSAE was more negatively impacted by high turbulence than low temperatures. APFA's optimum temperature growth curve was found to be important in determining the outcome of competition between APFA and MSAE. Surprisingly, competition was not sensitive to changes in buoyancy rates. Buoyancy was not found to be a function of algal accumulation under any thermal and turbulence regime. The impacts of climate change and human‐induced enrichment has the potential to change existing patterns of species interactions in lentic systems. Restoration and management efforts should consider the significance of cascading ecological responses to climate change. Understanding how key physiological adaptions operate is the first step to assessing the scope of this impact. While buoyancy might not play a large role in competition in UKL, it might be possible to use mixing to suppress MSAE because it is negatively impacted by high turbulence. If MSAE hot spots become a reoccurring problem in UKL, lakes managers might be able to use localized mixing to suppress MSAE blooms in these problem areas.

The influence of herbivory, grass competition and grazing system on emergence, growth and survival of Acacia seedlings in burnt and unburnt areas was investigated in their first growing season, from September 1997 to May 1998. The study was aimed at determining possible reasons for the increase in woody plant density in semi-arid savannas, specifically the effect of excluding small-mouthed herbivores from domestic and livestock systems, and switching from continuous grazing to rotational grazing systems. The effect of fire intensity and maximum fire temperature on seed viability, germination and mortality, specifically with regard to back versus head fires and seed size , were investigated. Variability among species in the number of seedlings emerging generally resembled differences in viability. Emergence of Acacia karroo and Acacia tortilis was poorer than that of Acacia nilotica under grass competition. Emergence was lower in burnt and open areas, the latter depending on Acacia species. Herbivory did not affect seedling emergence, in both domestic and wildlife systems. Seedling survival and growth was adversely affected by small-mouthed herbivores in both domestic and livestock systems, whilst large-mouthed herbivores exerted no direct effects on woody seedlings, except to a small degree by trampling. Seedlings showed better growth and survival under low grass competition, which also resulted in greater leaf-to-height ratios , indicating that grass interference with irradiance affects woody seedlings. This effect appeared to be greater for cattle and rotational grazing, and for burning, in domestic and wildlife systems respectively. Woody seedling establishment was also better in burnt areas. Whilst seedling growth was better under rotational than continuous grazing, survival was not significantly different. Grass competition influenced seedling establishment to a greater extent than herbivory, whilst burning made a greater impact than grass competition. Seed mortality in response to maximum fire temperature was inversely related to seed size, and trends in seed germination and mortality, although very variable, appeared to be influenced by threshold fire intensities and maximum temperatures. Back fires had hotter maximum temperatures and fire intensities at ground level than head fires, which result in greater seed mortality following fire. Based on the current study it is likely that the removal of grass competition, burning, and a change from continuous to rotational grazing systems, and small-mouthed to large-mouthed herbivores, will result in an increase in woody seedling establishment. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

The species composition of planktonic communities is determined not only by abiotic factors, such as nutrient availability, temperature, and water column stratification but also by biotic interactions between hosts and parasites, predators and prey, and among competitors. Blooms of the red tide dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, can dramatically alter the planktonic community, reaching densities of millions of cells per liter and occurring nearly monospecifically. I investigated whether K. brevis uses chemical compounds to defend against grazing or to inhibit the growth of competitors. Because K. brevis is known to produce brevetoxins which act as potent neurotoxins in mammals, I also investigated whether brevetoxins played a role in competition or predator resistance. Experiments revealed that copepods fed diets rich in Karenia brevis experienced lowered fitness, however, nutritional inadequacy, rather than toxicity, was responsible for the decrease in grazer fitness. Compounds exuded from natural samples of K. brevis blooms did, however, inhibit the growth of four of five model competitors. Compounds exuded from K. brevis cultures were similarly allelopathic to competitors. Exposure to these allelopathic compounds resulted in lowered photosynthetic efficiency of all competitors, and decreased cell membrane integrity of three competitors. The allelopathic potency of K. brevis blooms was variable between collections and years, but allelopathy did not correlate with bloom density or concentration of brevetoxins. However, the variability of allelopathy could partially be explained by the presence of specific competitors. The diatom Skeletonema costatum reduced the growth-inhibiting effects of K. brevis bloom exudates, suggesting that S. costatum has a mechanism for undermining K. brevis allelopathy. Allelopathic compounds exuded by K. brevis that inhibited the growth of the diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis were partially characterized. K. brevis produced multiple, polar, organic compounds that inhibited A. glacialis growth. Exuded brevetoxins, on the other hand, had no effect on A.glacialis growth. Taken together, these results indicate that K. brevis is not chemically defended against grazing, but does produce yet-unidentified allelopathic compounds that inhibit the growth of competing phytoplankton. Blooms of K. brevis may be facilitated by the exudation of potent allelopathic compounds, but the specific phytoplankton assemblage has the potential to alter bloom dynamics.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Orientador: Renata Zotin Gomes de Oliveira / Banca: Magda da Silva Peixoto / Banca: Suzinei Aparecida Siqueira Marconato / Resumo: O objetivo principal deste trabalho é o estudo da teoria qualitativa de sistemas de equações diferenciais ordinárias visando sua aplicação na análise de dois modelos clássicos de Dinâmica Populacional: presa-predador e competição entre duas espécies. Analisamos também duas variações para modelo predador-presa / Abstract: The main objective of this work is to study the qualitative theory for systems of ordinary di erential equations in order to use in the analysis of two classical models of Population Dynamics: predator-prey and competition between two species. We also analyse two variations for predator-prey model / Mestre

Orientador: João Frederico da Costa Azevedo Meyer / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matemática Estatística e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T13:46:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_CarlosFrankLimados_M.pdf: 3104358 bytes, checksum: a690d16041a50b1c06291d1d64615b29 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O propósito deste trabalho é desenvolver uma modelagem matemática que descreverá computacionalmente o convívio entre duas espécies competidoras sem característica migratória diante da variação de densidade de vegetação. As equações utilizadas nesta modelagem incluíram os fenômenos de difusão de vegetação, processos de dispersão populacional, dinâmicas vitais e um decaimento proporcional a variação de densidade de mata, no sentido de que quanto maior a densidade de mata menor o decaimento populacional quanto menor a densidade de mata maior a mortalidade populacional. Para as espécies competidoras usaremos as clássicas modelagem do tipo Lotka-Volterra (não- linear) combinado a equação diferenciais parciais de difusão-advecção. Primeiramente faremos a descrição do modelo matemático e a descrição do domínio visando o uso do método de diferenças finitas para o espaço combinados a um modelo de Crank-Nicolson no tempo. Em seguida, desenvolveremos um algoritmo em ambiente MATLAB , que aproxima as soluções relativas a difusão de vegetação e a cada população em cada ponto e ao longo do tempo considerado nas simulações. Por fim, foram obtidos resultados gráficos que foram analisados o efeito da recuperação da mata no convívio das espécies competidoras consideradas. De modo que se disponha de ferramentas mais acessíveis a profissionais e pesquisadores ligados aos estudos de ecologia matemática e meio ambiente, bem como aos responsáveis pelas adoções de medidas de emergências e contingências de áreas destruídas pelas ações antrópicas / Abstract: The main objective of this work is that of obtaining an adequate mathematical model and, consequently, a computational algorithm to describe the interaction between two competing species in face of a density variation in vegetation. Population dispersal and dynamics and the presence of a term relating the loss of vegetation density to higher mortality for both competing species must be considered, as well as the inverse: a raise in vegetation density is bound to increase the survival of species. In order to describe the interaction between vegetation and animals, a classic Lotka-Volterra system is used, coupled with the use of the diffusion-reaction partial differential equation for all three participants considered in the model: vegetation density and both animal species. For the interacting animal species, no migration is considered, although the possibility of a preferential direction similar to an advective component is permitted in the dispersal of plants. Numerical discretization include centered finite differences in order to obtain second order approximations in space variables, as well as a Crank-Nicolson method, also second order, for approximations in time. In order to qualitatively analyze possible results, a MATLAB environment was used, with the possibility of exhibiting graphical results based on the numerical ones. This is done in order to create a numerical auxiliary tool which can be used by researchers and professional agents in the evaluation of ecological and environmental policies and decisions, as well as the description of some of the effects of anthropic a actions / Mestrado / Matematica Aplicada / Mestre em Matemática Aplicada

Orientador: Fernando Roberto Martins / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T09:52:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zulqarnain_D.pdf: 1175280 bytes, checksum: 54693f874db85bfe334ccd1c36999f30 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Em florestas tropicais, a relação entre lianas e suas árvores-suporte (forófitos) representa uma importante interação antagônica. Em interações antagônicas a capacidade individual de um organismo de usar recursos aumenta, ao passo que a do outro organismo que interage decresce como resultado da interação. Cerca de 69% de todos os sistemas antagonisticos têm sinal filogenético, tendo em vista que interações entre espécies podem ser moldadas pela bagagem filogenética recebida como herança de seus antepassados. Por entretanto interações entre espécies variam de acordo com gradientes ambientais e o padrão de coocorrência de espécies de plantas em pequenas escalas espaciais muda com as condições ambientais. Portanto, o objetivo geral desta tese é avaliar a ocorrência de algum grau de especialização em lianas e forófitos e verificar a probabilidade de coocorrências entre lianas ou entre lianas e forófitos varia com a posição na encosta ou com a variação de variáveis do solo ao longo da encosta. A área focal deste trabalho foi feito em um fragmento da Floresta Estacional Semidecídua no município de Campinas, mas em primeiro capítulo também pesquisou outros três fragmentos, (i) Floresta Ombrófila no município de Ubatuba, (ii) Cerradão no município de Bauru, e (iii) Floresta Estacional Semidecídua no município de Paulo de Faria, em estado de São Paulo, no sudeste do Brasil. No capítulo (1) observou que em florestas ombrófila e estacionais, lianas e forófitos com alta originalidade filogenética tenderam a interagir com um conjuntos de espécies muito distintas. Por outro lado constatou-se que nos bosques de cerrados, lianas e forófitos com altas originalidade filogenética tenderam a interagir com conjuntos comuns de espécies. No segundo capítulo (2), mostramos que lianas coocorrem aleatoriamente no forófito, mas também observamos a existência de uma tendência de que lianas com mecanismos de escalada semelhantes facilitam a escalada de outra liana a escalar a árvore hospedeira. Por contudo não encontramos lianas coocorrência ao longo de gradientes ambientais. No capítulo (3), observamos que as variáveis selecionadas (fatores topoedáficos e diversidade filogenicas dos forófitos) não explicaram a variacão na freqüência de coocorrência das lianas- forófitos. Por constatamos que lianas têm um comportamento oportunista para subir nas árvores e diversidade filogenicas usuando como proxy para atributos de árvores não são importantes para as lianas. Argumentamos que as diferenças ambientais entre florestas e savanas mediaram processos evolutivos distintos nas interações liana-forófito. Os processos estocásticos são o fator dominante gerando padrão de co-ocorrência entre lianas e lianas-forófito / Abstract: Liana and host tree (phorophyte) represent an important antagonistic interaction in tropical forest. In antagonistic interactions the individual ability of using nutrient resources increases whereas the ability of interacting individual decreases as a result of interaction. About 69 % of all antagonistic systems have phylogenetic signal , considering that species interactions can be shaped by phylogenetic baggage that species received as an inheritance from their ancestors. However species interactions vary according to environmental gradients hence the co-occurrence pattern of the plant species in small spatial scales also changes with environmental conditions. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to evaluate some degree of specialization between lianas and phorophytes and probability of co-occurrences among lianas as well lianas and phorophytes along the slope or the variation of soil variables along the slope. The focal area of this work was carried out in a fragment of tropical semideciduous forest in the muncipality of Campinas, but in the first chapter we also surveyed three other fragments (i) Tropical Rain Forest in the muncipality of Ubatuba, (ii) Woodland Savanna in the municipality of Bauru and (iii) the tropical semideciduous forest in the municipality of Paulo de Faria, in the state of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. In chapter (1) we observed that in tropical rain forest and seasonal forests, lianas and phorophyte with high phylogenetic originality tended to interact with a set of very distinct species . Moreover it was found that in the woodland Savanna, lianas and phorophytes with high phylogenetic originality tended to interact with common sets of species. In chapter (2) we showed that lianas co-occur randomly on the host tree, but we also observed an existence of a tendency that lianas with similar climbing mechanisms facilitate other liana climbing the host tree. But we did not find role of environmental gradients in lianas co-occurrence. In chapter (3), we observed that selected variables (topoedaphic factors and phylogenetic diversity of phorophyte), also did not explain the variation in the frequency of liana-phorophyte co-occurrence. But we found that lianas have an opportunistic behavior and phylogenetic diversity using as proxy for tree traits are not important to the lianas. We argued that environmental differences in forests and savannas mediated distinct evolutionary processes in structuring liana-phorophyte interactions. The stochastic processes are the dominant factor generating pattern of co-occurrence among lianas and liana and host tree / Doutorado / Biologia Vegetal / Doutor em Biologia Vegetal

Sexual selection arises via competition for access to mates, and is thus intimately tied to the social environment. For example, individual mating success may depend strongly on how many rivals or mating partners are available. Studies of mate choice and sexual selection may vary the number of mates a subject is presented with during mating experiments, yet it is not clear how this influences the strength and shape of sexual selection acting on traits in either sex. In this thesis I investigate the effect of social environment on sexual selection acting in two closely-related species of lygaeid seed bug: Lygaeus equestris and Lygaeus simulans. Males in both species possess an extremely elongate intromittent organ, which is over two-thirds average male body length. I show that the strength of pre-copulatory selection acting on male processus length in Lygaeus equestris and genital clasper shape in Lygaeus simulans is significantly influenced by the social context. However, selection on male and female body size in Lygaeus equestris is not. Additionally, I use a meta-analysis of 38 published studies to show that mating preferences are significantly stronger when more than one mate option is available, compared to when only a single option is available. I also investigate the functional morphology of male genital traits in Lygaeus simulans, and use formal selection analysis to quantify the strength of selection acting on these traits before, during and after mating. Finally, I use experimental manipulations in Lygaeus simulans to confirm that male processus length directly influences sperm transfer, and that intact genital claspers are required for successful intromission. Overall, my results illustrate that sexual selection in the wild may vary both spatially and temporally depending on the social environment. It is thus especially important that experiments are performed under ecologically relevant conditions.