FREQUENCY DEPENDENT PREDATION ON WINTER ANNUAL SEEDS BY GRANIVOROUS RODENTS
Author
Horst, Jonathan LamarIssue Date
2011Keywords
seed predationSonoran Desert
winter annual plants
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
frequency dependence
rodents
Advisor
Venable, D. Lawrence
Metadata
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The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
Positive frequency-dependent predation (FDP) has been proposed as a species coexistence mechanism and theoretical models have shown how it may function. In positive FDP a rare species receives a temporary reprieve from predation pressure allowing an increase to its population growth rate and a chance for it to recover from rarity. This study tests for frequency-dependent foraging by granivorous desert rodents on the seeds of three species of winter annual plants that grow in the Sonoran Desert. While the preference for one species is much higher than the other two, preferences for each species are higher when common than when rare showing an asymmetric form of positive FDP. This study is the first empirical test for positive FDP on winter annual plants and by granivorous desert rodents and one of few to use more than two prey species, native prey species, or asymmetrically preferred prey species.Type
textElectronic Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.Degree Level
mastersDegree Program
Graduate CollegeEcology & Evolutionary Biology