Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS45 Temporary Aquatic Ecosystems: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001, Time: 3:45:00 PM

Location: Cochiti/Taos

Philippi, T, E, Dept. of Biology Florida International University, Miami, USA, tomp@srel.edu

Simovich, M, A, Dept. of Biology University of San Diego, San Diego, USA, simo@acusd.edu

TEMPORARY, EPHEMERAL, UNPREDICTABLE: SOME THEORETICAL CONSEQUENCES FOR LIFE HISTORIES AND POPULATION DYNAMICS

In order to exploit temporary aquatic habitats, obligate aquatic organisms must be able to survive dry periods via tolerance, dispersal, or avoidance. Not all methods are possible for all organisms. For example, tolerance of dry periods, while common in plants and amphibians with terrestrial life stages, is not an option for many crustaceans. Avoiding unfavorable conditions via diapause is widespread in temporary aquatic habitats. To be effective, exiting diapause must be tied to the onset and entering diapause to the end of favorable conditions. The mean, variability, and predictability of the duration of the aquatic phase interact in their selection on life-cycle compaction, plasticity, and bet-hedging forms of diapause. These traits, in turn, determine how the population dynamics track environmental variation, and potentially affect species diversity in these habitats.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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