Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
M. S.
Organizational Unit
College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Anna Sher
Second Advisor
Shannon Murphy
Third Advisor
Scott Nichols
Keywords
Diversity, Ecology, Elevation, Freshwater, Macroinvertebrate
Abstract
Land use activities have caused disturbances that affect the quality of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. How the influences of land use along an environmental gradient and the associated environmental variables that may influence stream diversity and function is unclear. We address these issues by studying biodiversity, abundance, and functional diversity of macroinvertebrates across different land types along a gradient in Colorado, USA. We also address how diversity may change along an elevation gradient by analyzing previously published macroinvertebrate research. We found evidence that land use and disturbance are stronger explanations of changes in macroinvertebrate communities, rather than elevation. Functional trait patterns of macroinvertebrates also differ from biodiversity and community composition measurements. Our research highlights the importance of land use, the influence on environmental variables, and the use of functional traits for characterizing communities.
Copyright Date
January 2020
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Brittany Sprout
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
en
File Size
74 p.
Recommended Citation
Sprout, Brittany, "Land Use Influences Along Elevation Gradient on Macroinvertebrate Communities" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1846.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1846
Discipline
Ecology, Conservation biology