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Impacts of space, abundance and food web structure on parasite life cycles
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
Impacts of space, abundance and food web structure on parasite life cycles
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Rossiter
NamePart
(type = given)
Wayne David
NamePart
(type = date)
1980-
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Wayne Rossiter
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
author
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Sukhdeo
NamePart
(type = given)
Michael V.K.
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Michael V.K. Sukhdeo
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
chair
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Morin
NamePart
(type = given)
Peter J.
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Peter J. Morin
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Smouse
NamePart
(type = given)
Peter E.
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Peter E. Smouse
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Silliman
NamePart
(type = given)
Brian R.
DisplayForm
Brian R. Silliman
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
outside member
Name
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NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name
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NamePart
Graduate School - New Brunswick
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
school
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Text
Genre
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theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated
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2012
DateOther
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(type = degree)
2012-05
Place
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xx
Language
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(authority = ISO639-2b);
(type = code)
eng
Abstract
(type = abstract)
The search for fundamental patterns or rules by which parasites establish and persist in free-living species is a rapidly expanding area of interest for both parasitologists and ecologists. Though host-parasite interactions are fairly well understood at the population level, little is known about parasitism at the community level, nor why some free-living species harbor many parasite taxa while others are seemingly resistant to parasite establishment. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore several species and community attributes that could be important to parasite establishment and persistence in both a marine saltmarsh (Tuckerton, NJ) and a freshwater riverine system (Raritan River, NJ). This study specifically emphasized feeding interactions, abundance and spatial distributions of free-living species and their respective helminth parasites. In Tuckerton saltmarsh, I observed a strong spatial patterning in trematode infections of the mudsnail, Ilyanassa obsoleta, and this pattern is strongly correlated with habitat type and host quality. At the community level (along with data from four previously published systems), trophically transmitted parasites were found to utilize asymmetric predator-prey interactions, in which predator hosts have many prey items and prey hosts have relatively few predators. In a pristine site along the Raritan River high resolution abundance data revealed that predator-prey interactions are spatially constrained by habitat and that this pattern was even stronger for host-host and parasite-host interactions. Finally, I found a decrease in efficiency of biomass transfer up trophic levels across a perturbation gradient in this river system. This pattern correlated with losses in both free-living and parasite diversity. However, the relationship between these factors and human impact was not linear, suggesting a threshold at which community structure becomes less invasible by parasites. Collectively, this study suggests that spatial context, in combination with community structure, can greatly affect parasite establishment and persistence and can be used to explain or predict which free-living species are more hospitable hosts.
Subject
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Topic
Ecology and Evolution
RelatedItem
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TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
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Identifier
ETD_3895
PhysicalDescription
Form
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electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
xii, 190 p. : ill.
Note
(type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note
(type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note
(type = statement of responsibility)
by Wayne David Rossiter
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Parasites--Life cycles--New Jersey
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Parasites--Ecology--New Jersey
Identifier
(type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001600001.ETD.000065259
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TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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(displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
NjNbRU
Identifier
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doi:10.7282/T3DR2TDG
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
RightsDeclaration
(ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
(type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Rossiter
GivenName
Wayne
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact);
(point = start)
2012-04-10 11:30:18
AssociatedEntity
Name
Wayne Rossiter
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Technical
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