Community Ecology
Volume/Issue:
Volume 3: Issue 1
Trophic interactions in the phytotelmata communities of the Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia purpurea
Authors:
T.E. Miller Department of Biological Science, Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-1100, USA

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L. Horth Department of Biological Science, Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-1100, USA

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R.H. Reeves Department of Biological Science, Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-1100, USA

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Pages:
109–116
Online Publication Date:
22 Jul 2005
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2002
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.3.2002.1.13
Keywords:
Food webs; Food webs; Aquatic systems; Bacteria; Midges; Mites; Mosquitoes; Phytotelmata; Protozoa; Rotifers; Trophic cascades
Restricted access

A pulse-perturbation experiment, designed to assess the impact of top predators, resource availability, and the interaction between predators and resources, was conducted in the inquiline community found in a natural population of the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea. Experimental manipulations of pitchers were removal of the top predator (the filter-feeding larvae of the mosquito Wyeomia smithii), addition of resources (mealworms), and the combination of the two. Pitchers were then censused every three days for 15 days. Top-predator removal had little effect on the remaining community, in part because mosquitoes rapidly recolonized the pitchers. Resource addition resulted in large, persistent increases in both bacterial and protozoan abundances but had no effect on rotifers and mites. Therefore, “top-down” effects were relatively weak. In contrast “bottom-up” effects were strong at the lowest trophic level (bacteria) but differentially affected species at a higher trophic level that feed on bacteria. The interactions between top-down and bottom-up forces were difficult to quantify because of the rapid recolonization by mosquitoes.

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Cover Community Ecology
Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies
Print ISSN:
1585-8553
Online ISSN:
1588-2756

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Community Ecology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 2000
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 3
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
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Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
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ISSN 1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2756 (Online)

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