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dc.contributor.advisorAmundsen, Per-Arne
dc.contributor.advisorPrimicerio, Raul
dc.contributor.advisorLafferty, Kevin
dc.contributor.advisorKuris, Armand
dc.contributor.authorMoore, Shannon Elizabeth
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-24T11:40:22Z
dc.date.available2022-06-24T11:40:22Z
dc.date.issued2022-06-01
dc.description.abstractInteractions involving parasites often account for large proportions of links within aquatic food webs, yet few studies integrate parasites into their food web analyses. This analysis compares three sets of highly resolved food webs that differ in taxa composition, space, and time for a subarctic lake system. Key topological food web metrics, including connectance, linkage density, and mean generality and vulnerability, were calculated to explore the impact parasites have on food web structure and functioning. Incorporating parasites into this lacustrine food web was shown to increase connectance, linkage density, and mean vulnerability, a result of unique properties of parasites and the links they participate in. Parasites in the total food web were involved in a large proportion of concomitant predation interactions with their free-living counterparts and numerous trematodes also participated in intra-guild predation, leading to the observed changes in key metrics. Additionally, the division of the total food web into its benthic and pelagic compartments further illustrated that parasites have different impacts in these two highly contrasting habitats, as very different values were reported for most key metrics measured. However, connectance was nearly identical in the two compartments. The higher-than-expected connectance in the benthic compartment was due to the life history strategies of the benthic compartment’s parasite taxa. Finally, this analysis explored the impact of a series of fish introductions and the consequences of their ten hitchhiking parasites on the key topological metrics measured. These additional nodes increased linkage density and mean vulnerability but had very little effect on the other measured metrics. This analysis highlights the importance of incorporating parasites, especially trophically-transmitted parasites, into food webs as they significantly alter key topological metrics and are therefore essential for understanding a system’s structure and functioning.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/25566
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherUiT Norges arktiske universiteten_US
dc.publisherUiT The Arctic University of Norwayen_US
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2022 The Author(s)
dc.subject.courseIDBIO-3950
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Parasitology: 484en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Parasittologi: 484en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Limnology: 498en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Limnologi: 498en_US
dc.titleUncovering the secrets they keep – the role of parasites in food web ecologyen_US
dc.typeMaster thesisen_US
dc.typeMastergradsoppgaveen_US


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