Abstract Detail

Ecology

Querns, Aleah [1], Louthan, Allison [2].

A test for demographic compensation with Hibiscus meyeri.

Vital rates (such as survival and reproduction) are influenced by climatic conditions, which in turn determine patterns of population growth across a species’ range. Conventional ecological theory predicts that all vital rates simultaneously decrease toward species’ range boundaries, beyond which populations cannot persist (λ < 1). However, in other scenarios, vital rates may change in opposing fashions, resulting in a buffering effect on population growth called “demographic compensation”. Ultimately, demographic compensation could facilitate less dramatic clines of population growth and greater overall range sizes. Here, we use a method proposed by Villellas et al. (2015) to test for demographic compensation among populations of Hibiscus meyeri across an aridity gradient in the presence and absence of large mammalian herbivores. We found evidence for demographic compensation in the absence of herbivores, but not in the presence of herbivores, suggesting that herbivory has dramatic effects on the population growth and range size of this species.

1 - Kansas State University, Division Of Biology, 103 Bushnell Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66502, United States
2 - Kansas State University, Division Of Biology 116 Ackert Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506, United States

Keywords:
population biology
ecology
plant-animal interaction.

Presentation Type: Poster
Number: PEC017
Abstract ID:835
Candidate for Awards:Ecological Section Best Graduate Student Poster