Doctoral Dissertation: US-Tanzania: Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire: Assessing State-Specific Predation in a Complex Life History

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

This project will test the hypothesis that in an African predator-prey system that consists of a terrestrial predator of frog eggs and an aquatic predator of frog larvae. The PI's will test for higher-order interactions in this system through field surveys and artificial pond experiments. Demographic models will then be used to extrapolate the short-term effects of the predators on prey mortaility to understand better their importance in determining prey population dynamics. This research will faciliatea our understanding of the effects of competing HOIs on prey dynamics, quantify the status of amphibian populations in Tanzania, and enhance the ecological training of African and American biology students.