Biology ETDs

Publication Date

Summer 7-28-2017

Abstract

The abundance-occupancy relationship (AOR) is a recurrent pattern in ecology and biogeography, in which species with expansive distributions are locally common while those with restricted distributions are locally rare. Despite occurring across a wide variety of taxa and spatial scales, the mechanisms underlying AORs are not well understood. I tested two such mechanisms regarding dietary generalism in a guild of 8 small, herbivorous African mammals: (1) the degree to which diet was explained by food availability, and (2) population-level diet breadth. I expected that food availability would better predict diet for abundant, widespread species than rare, restricted species. Additionally, I predicted that species that use a diversity of C3 and C4 plants and arthropod resources (dietary generalists) both would occupy more sites and, given occupancy, be more abundant than rare, restricted species (i.e., purported dietary specialists). For two species, diet was related to food availability, albeit weakly; food availability was a poor predictor of diet for the remaining six species. I detected no relationship between population-level diet breadth and abundance, nor between population-level diet breadth and occupancy. My results provide weak support for the resource-breadth hypothesis, which posits that differences in niche width underlie AORs.

Project Sponsors

NSF, UNM GPSA, UNM BGSA, UNM Biology

Language

English

Keywords

abundance-occupancy relationship, diet breadth, Kenya, macroecology, stable isotopes, savanna

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Biology

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

UNM Biology Department

First Committee Member (Chair)

Seth D. Newsome

Second Committee Member

Jacob R. Goheen

Third Committee Member

Scott L. Collins

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