Stephen Verral
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Kayla Hale
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology / LSA
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 1 – 10am – 10:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Kayla Hale, Stephen Verral
Presenter: 61
Abstract
Despite the vast variety of complex food webs that have been published, they all typically fail to account for every interaction within an ecosystem. Instead, they focus on a specific community or interaction type. Although these food webs offer insight into patterns within ecosystems, they do not encompass or consider every interaction. This study attempts to address this problem by using online databases and expert testimony to provide necessary information on the different interactions within a terrestrial woodland environment in Northern Michigan. Rather than compiling data on interactions from one specific part of this ecosystem, this study then records all of the interactions within the ecosystem. When all of the data is documented, a program will then be used to analyze the data for patterns and information such as clustering, degree distributions, and connectance. From this analysis, results may yield new findings about how these variables are affected at a larger scale than has ever been tested. Results from this research will either affirm results from prior studies at a different scale, indicating a higher likelihood of universal patterns, or challenge these prior studies. Results from this study will also help inform future policy decisions regarding local environments and future ecological experiments.
Interdisciplinary, Natural/Life Sciences
