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oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/11711 2023-07-10 col_2142_16341 col_2142_9 col_2142_5131 com_2142_8913 com_2142_8903 com_2142_8 com_2142_5130

Cáceres, Carla E. Cáceres, Carla E. Paige, Ken N. Suarez, Andrew V. Hughes, Kimberly A. Allen, Michael R. 2009-05-07T17:13:39Z 2009-05-07T17:13:39Z 2009-05-05 A recent focus on contemporary evolution and the connections between communities has sought to more closely integrate the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. Studies of coevolutionary dynamics, life history evolution, and rapid local adaptation demonstrate that ecological circumstances can dictate evolutionary trajectories. Thus, variation in species identity, trait distributions, and genetic composition may be maintained among ecologically divergent habitats. New theories and hypotheses (e.g., metacommunity theory and the Monopolization hypothesis) have been developed to understand better the processes occurring in spatially structured environments and how the movement of individuals among habitats contributes to ecology and evolution at broader scales. As few empirical studies of these theories exist, this work seeks to further test these concepts. Spatial and temporal dispersal are the mechanisms that connect habitats to one another. Both processes allow organisms to leave conditions that are suboptimal or unfavorable, and enable colonization and invasion, species range expansion, and gene flow among populations. Freshwater zooplankton are aquatic crustaceans that typically develop resting stages as part of their life cycle. Their dormant propagules allow organisms to disperse both temporally and among habitats. Additionally, because a number of species are cyclically parthenogenetic, they make excellent model organisms for studying evolutionary questions in a controlled environment. Here, I use freshwater zooplankton communities as model systems to explore the mechanisms and consequences of dispersal and to test these nascent theories on the influence of spatial structure in natural systems. In Chapter one, I use field experiments and mathematical models to determine the range of adult zooplankton dispersal over land and what vectors are moving zooplankton. Chapter two focuses on prolonged dormancy of one aquatic zooplankter, Daphnia pulex. Using statistical models with field and mesocosm experiments, I show that variation in Daphnia dormant egg hatching is substantial among populations in nature, and some of that variation can be attributed to genetic differences among the populations. Chapters three and four explore the consequences of dispersal at multiple levels of biological organization. Chapter three seeks to understand the population level consequences of dispersal over evolutionary time on current patterns of population genetic differentiation. Nearby populations of D. pulex often exhibit high population genetic differentiation characteristic of very low dispersal. I explore two alternative hypotheses that seek to explain this pattern. Finally, chapter four is a case study of how dispersal has influenced patterns of variation at the community, trait and genetic levels of biodiversity in a lake metacommunity. is peer reviewed Submitted by Michael Allen (mrallen2@illinois.edu) on 2009-05-07T17:07:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MR Allen Dissertation 2009.pdf: 2475245 bytes, checksum: 55d3d6cb8f9f39d728c348b9d60ae415 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Sarah Shreeves(sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2009-05-07T17:13:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 MR Allen Dissertation 2009.pdf: 2475245 bytes, checksum: 55d3d6cb8f9f39d728c348b9d60ae415 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2009-05-07T17:13:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MR Allen Dissertation 2009.pdf: 2475245 bytes, checksum: 55d3d6cb8f9f39d728c348b9d60ae415 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-05 Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2009-05-07T17:13:39Z Item is restricted until 2010-08-07T16:57:34Z Item reinstated by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2010-08-08T10:00:26Z Item was in collections: Illinois Research and Scholarship (Open Community) (ID: 3) University of Illinois Dissertations and Theses (ID: 204) Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology - Dissertations and Theses (ID: 607) No. of bitstreams: 2 MR Allen Dissertation 2009.pdf: 2475245 bytes, checksum: 55d3d6cb8f9f39d728c348b9d60ae415 (MD5) MR Allen Dissertation 2009.pdf.txt: 232162 bytes, checksum: 306db9ecd8d50eb7f2bed14fac0e6f5e (MD5) Item released from any restrictions by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2010-08-08T10:00:29Z published or submitted for publication Chapter 1: Allen, MR. 2007. Measuring and modeling disperal of adult zooplankton. Oecologia 153: 135-143. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009 http://hdl.handle.net/2142/11711 en Copyright 2009 Michael R. Allen diapause dormancy dispersal Daphnia Metacommunity founder effect priority monopolization community ecology evolution Ecological and evolutionary effects of dispersal on freshwater zooplankton Dissertation / Thesis text Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation Ph.D.