University of Oklahoma Graduate College the Role
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE ROLE OF BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND CLIMATE IN A NEOTROPICAL ANT COMMUNITY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By JELENA BUJAN Norman, Oklahoma 2017 THE ROLE OF BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND CLIMATE IN A NEOTROPICAL ANT COMMUNITY A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY BY ______________________________ Dr. Michael Kaspari, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Michael Patten ______________________________ Dr. Lara Souza ______________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Kelly ______________________________ Dr. Robert Cichewicz © Copyright by JELENA BUJAN 2017 All Rights Reserved. Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my advisor Mike Kaspari for giving me this opportunity, for being supportive and believing in me, even after I decided to climb trees. I am grateful for his patience and guidance along the way, especially in improving my writing, as well as all the RA support he provided throughout the years. I thank my committee members for generous help and valuable advice throughout the process: Robert Cichewicz, Jeffrey Kelly, Michael Patten, and Lara Souza. I am grateful to Michael Patten for endless patience with my statistical dilemmas, for being prompt in providing feedback, and for his encouragement. Lara Souza for our community ecology discussions throughout the years, and for all her help in my professional development. Jeff Kelly, for all the stable isotope discussions, they changed my perspective on research. Thanks to the staff of the Biology Department: Liz Cooley, Kaye Carter, Kyle Baker, George Davis, and Robbie Stinchcomb for providing valuable logistic support along the way, especially during months I was in the field, it was so much easier knowing I could rely on you. For the logistical help in Panama I thank Oris Acevedo, Belkys Jimenez, and Norisa Mercedes Soto Cadastre from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. I am grateful to Joe Wright for use of his field site and valuable insight on nutrient limitation in the tropics. Thanks to Steve Yanoviak for teaching me how to climb and introducing me to the natural history of Neotropical animals. I thank Eli Rodrigez, Stefan Brandel, Marko Maklewitz, Sara Neihaus, Eric Griffin, Dan Revillini, iv Christie Riehl, Callum Kingwell and many more for their friendship; BCI would not be the same without you. Big thanks to the less transient roommates of the Hardin House for their friendship, and all the fun, food and drinks we shared together. Emily Khazan, Alex (Bundy) Barnard, Daniel Curtis, Arthur Escalas and Camille Cosson, I can’t imagine not knowing you. I thank Biology Graduate students Thayer Hallidayschult and Josh Cooper for all the real coffee breaks we shared over the years. I am grateful to the Kaspari lab members for their help: Brittany Benson for never being boring but always ready to draw Discothyreas if needed. Rebecca Prather for her friendship and support. Karl Roeder for all the discussions about ants and science, and for convincing me to accept that—this is fine. Mike Weiser for preparing me for the future in the realm of ecology with his valuable advice. A huge thanks to my former lab mates: Jon Shik, David Donoso, and Natalie Clay for their friendship and support, regardless of the geographic distance. Thanks to Jackson Helms for his linguistic help, and for his efforts to introduce me to Oklahoma. Thank you, Marina and Luka, for keeping in touch after all these years, for numerous all-nighters that we pulled, for being positive, motivating, and always planning the next trip for 3 mudrice. Andreja, thank you for all the paper writing and discussions. Faja and Gaja, thank you for making it so easy to remember the good old times. Vedran, thank you for your love and support. Gligor, thank you for being a reality check. v Ana, there are no words to thank you for being an unimaginably amazing friend. I would never be able to finish if you were not a phone call away, somehow always knowing what to say. Both Marko and Ana, thank you for being my family away from family. I am grateful for the ridiculousness via Skype or in person, for tolerating never ending rants, enjoying good coffee, cooking weird dishes and supporting me every step of the way. Finally, I thank my parents without which none of this would be possible, Mama, Tata, thank you for encouraging my curiosity and love of nature. I am grateful for always knowing I have a place to come back. Vlasta, thank you for being an older sister, and giving good advice. Thank you Majka for being proud of me and supportive of my choices, and for the never-ending supply of Griotte. Lastly I thank many more of my friends I didn’t mention here, both old and new, for making it all worthwhile. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... x List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xi Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: Biogeochemical drivers of Neotropical ant activity and diversity .... 1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 Materials and methods .................................................................................................. 8 Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 10 Results ........................................................................................................................ 11 Responses of Ant Activity to Fertilization ............................................................. 11 Responses of Diversity and Richness to Fertilization ............................................ 13 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 15 The effects of biogeochemistry and temperature on consumer activity ................. 15 The effects of biogeochemistry and temperature on local diversity ....................... 17 Caveats and next steps ............................................................................................ 18 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 19 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2: Desiccation resistance in tropical insects: causes and mechanisms underlying variability in a Panama ant community ................................................. 26 Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 27 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 29 Materials and methods ................................................................................................ 32 Study site ................................................................................................................ 32 Measuring microclimate ......................................................................................... 32 Measuring desiccation resistance ........................................................................... 33 Measuring hydration and water loss of ants ........................................................... 34 Measuring CTmax .................................................................................................... 34 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 35 Results ........................................................................................................................ 36 How does vapor pressure deficit vary between canopy and litter? ........................ 36 Testing the desiccation adaptation hypothesis ....................................................... 36 Mechanism 1: body size enhances desiccation resistance ...................................... 37 vii Mechanism 2: hydration enhances desiccation resistance ...................................... 38 Is there a tradeoff between desiccation resistance and thermal tolerance? ............ 39 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 39 Body size and desiccation resistance ...................................................................... 40 Water content is not a good predictor of desiccation resistance ............................ 41 Ants did not differ in apparent ability to retain moisture ....................................... 42 Evidence for tradeoffs is complex .......................................................................... 42 Caveats ................................................................................................................... 43 Future Work ...........................................................................................................