Testing for competition, facilitation, and intraguild predation between two co-dominant detritivores: the caddisfly <i> Limnephilus externus </i> and chironomid midges
Abstract
Most living organic material goes through the detrital pathway. Detritovores are incredibly important in ecosystems for the recycling of nutrients and energy. This project explores the inter- and intraspecies relationships between two co-dominant detritovores that inhabit the high-elevation rocky mountain ponds: the caddis fly, Limnephlus externus, and chironomid midges. Specifically, we are trying to determine if there is competition, facilitation, or intraguild predation between Limnephilus externus and chironomid midges. With climate change, the permanent and semipermanent ponds are becoming increasingly temporary. The issue this presents is that L.externus cannot survive in temporary ponds due to their long development time. Therefore, identifying the relationships between the two taxa can help us understand how detrital processing may change with the possible loss of L. externus or shifts in species abundances. For this experiment, we used a response surface design and altered the relative abundances to test for the relationships between the two taxa. Add summary sentence of findings
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