Feeding Patterns and Trophic Food Web
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 10-20-2016 Feeding Patterns and Trophic Food Web Dynamics of Armases cinereum Across a Mangrove/Upland Ecotone Erin Paige Kiskaddon University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Kiskaddon, Erin Paige, "Feeding Patterns and Trophic Food Web Dynamics of Armases cinereum Across a Mangrove/Upland Ecotone" (2016). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6525 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Feeding Patterns and Trophic Food Web Dynamics of Armases cinereum Across a Mangrove/Upland Ecotone by Erin Paige Kiskaddon A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Integrative Biology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Susan S. Bell, Ph.D. Christina L. Richards, Ph.D. David B. Lewis, Ph.D. Date of Approval: October, 20, 2016 Keywords: stable isotopes, mixing model, SIMMR, diet selectivity, trophic enrichment, omnivory, mangrove crab, habitat modification Copyright © 2016, Erin Paige Kiskaddon DEDICATION For all my friends and family who encouraged me to pursue my interest in crabs, and to the mangrove forests of Florida that host them. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my Major Professor, Dr. Susan S. Bell, for her tireless efforts in supporting me in this work, as well as my committee members, Dr. David B. Lewis and Dr. Christina L. Richards, who encouraged me during this process and pushed me to pursue the highest standards of science. I am greatly appreciative of the tireless work by Jessica N. Wilson, M.S., at the USF Stable Isotope Lab for processing the stable isotope samples. I also thank Kiley Chernicky, Cristina Blanco, Stav Thea, Stephen Hesterberg, Shannon Grogan, Mary Kate O’Donnell and Elizabeth Salewsky for their assistance in data collection and support in both the lab and field. Field work was made possible by the gracious help of the Hillsborough County land managers at Upper Tampa Bay Regional Park and the Pinellas County land managers at Honeymoon Island State Park, Weedon Island Preserve, and R.E. Olds Park. This research was supported in part by the University of South Florida Department of Integrative Biology, the Fern Garden Club of Odessa, and the St. Petersburg Audubon Society. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................................v Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Study Areas and Background Information ......................................................................................6 Site Descriptions ..................................................................................................................6 Squareback Marsh Crab: Background Information .............................................................6 Materials and Methods .....................................................................................................................9 Mangrove Leaf Feeding .......................................................................................................9 Leaf Collection.........................................................................................................9 Crab Collection ......................................................................................................10 Experimental Design ..............................................................................................11 Ecotonal Food Source Feeding ..........................................................................................11 Plant Source Collection..........................................................................................12 Experimental Design ..............................................................................................13 Stable Isotope Analysis ......................................................................................................13 Sample Collection and Preparation ........................................................................14 Trophic Position .....................................................................................................15 Mixing Models .......................................................................................................16 Statistical Analyses ............................................................................................................20 Mangrove Herbivory ..............................................................................................20 Ecotonal Food Source Feeding Experiment ..........................................................20 Trophic Position .....................................................................................................21 Mixing Models .......................................................................................................21 Results ............................................................................................................................................25 Mangrove Leaf Feeding .....................................................................................................25 Ecotonal Food Source Feeding ..........................................................................................25 Stable Isotope Analyses .....................................................................................................27 Trophic Position .....................................................................................................27 Mixing Models .......................................................................................................27 Discussion ......................................................................................................................................38 Implications........................................................................................................................45 i References ......................................................................................................................................47 Appendices .....................................................................................................................................53 Appendix A: Calibration for Feeding Experiments ...........................................................54 Appendix B: Assessment of Gender Bias in Feeding Experiments ...................................55 Appendix C: Means and Ranges for Proportional Dietary Contributions .........................56 Appendix D: Biplots of Armases and source contributions ...............................................58 ii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Physical descriptions of sampling sites located in Tampa Bay, FL .............................23 Table 2: Categories into which related sources (based on trophic group or overlapping stable isotope signatures) were grouped for SIMMR mixing model analyses. ...........24 Table 3: Between-trial differences in consumption and Manly-Chesson α selectivity ..............31 Table A1: Wet weight (x) to dry weight (y) conversion coefficients for all vegetation types used in feeding experiments ...............................................................................54 Table A2: SIMMR model results for both A) standard δ13C TEF of 1.0 ‰ and B) Grapsid δ13C TEF of 5.4 ‰ across study sites ............................................................56 Table A3: The mean stable isotope signatures and standard deviation (SD) for source organisms at Honeymoon Island (HI) ..........................................................................58 Table A4: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of stable isotope signatures for source organisms at HI-C ........................................................................................................59 Table A5: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of stable isotope signatures for source organisms at UTBRP ...................................................................................................60 Table A6: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of stable isotope signatures for source organisms sampled at RE OLDS .................................................................................61 Table A7: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of stable isotope signatures for source organisms for WI .........................................................................................................62 Table A8: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of stable isotope signatures for source organisms for WI-C .....................................................................................................63 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure