Analyzing seasonal trait distributions in phytoplankton: an application of trait-based community ecology
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Authors
Guenther, Mirae
Issue Date
2012
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Phytoplankton are a useful ecological tool in examining how the changes in an aquatic environment affect the species that make up a community within it. By linking traits directly with environmental conditions, community ecologists have begun to use trait-based ecological studies in attempts to enable mechanistic prediction across environmental gradients. Previous studies suggest that this outlook is more predictive and can help community ecology become a more expansive and encompassing science in the face of global environmental change. With traits that are simple to define and population dynamics rooted in easily measured qualities, such as growth rate, properties of trait-based ecological approaches can be defined with phytoplankton and applied to other studies across taxonomic boundaries. In the process of my research, I studied the community of phytoplankton of Wintergreen Lake, MI over a growing season to analyze their community dynamics and further support the effectiveness of trait-based community ecology. Through manipulating levels in phosphorus, light, and temperature, population growth rates were used as indicators of changes in community structure. The data collected illustrated the tendencies of phytoplankton communities to change their composition in parallel with changing environmental conditions. This research makes a further step towards solidifying trait-based ecological methods, their application, and their significance in future community ecology studies.
Description
v, 30 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.