Marohn Campena
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Kayla Hale
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology / LSA
Program:
Authors: Marohn Campena, Kayla Hale
Session: Session 3: 11:00 am – 11: 50 am
Poster: 62
Abstract
Ecologists use food webs to predict about how changes to an ecosystem can alter species interactions. Many food webs are poorly resolved, meaning that species are often lumped together for having similar characteristics, even if they may engage in different interactions. Therefore, the predictions that come from these webs are not always accurate. This research project uses a food web spanning the temperate forest and freshwater habitats within the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) in northern Michigan, USA. Usually, the creation of such a web would require infeasible amounts of taxonomic expertise and expensive sampling. However, by using an already-made species list from decades of research at UMBS by specialists on all major taxonomic groups as well as publicly available interaction records, this food web achieves a more even resolution by compiling and vetting records focusing on each of these individual species. With such a food web, we can study the unique patterns of interaction across taxonomic groups, here focusing on parasitoids. Parasitoids are organisms that live and develop closely with their host, eventually resulting in their host’s death. Using background research on parasitoids, we categorized and mapped the network structure of Hymenopteran parasitoid interactions according to their feeding behavior, traits, as well as the development of their host. By visualizing and comparing the structure of parasitoid interactions in their food web, we can better understand the role parasitoids play in our ecosystems.
