Insect predation across the globe

Differential rates of bird and invertebrate predation on real and modeled prey items across a latitudinal gradient

Presenter: Cameron Olson

Co-Presenter(s):
n/a

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Nathan Rank

Department: Biology

Funding Source/Sponsor: Other

Other Funding Source/Program: University of Turku, Finland

President's Strategic Plan Goal: Sustainability and Environmental Inquiry

Abstract:
I analyzed a subset of results of a global experiment studying natural predation on insects in a variety of habitats in regions of the far north (boreal), temperate zone (including California), and tropics. I worked with other students to set up, run, and analyze the California portion of the experiment, which was conducted at Fairfield Osborn Preserve. We compared predation on actual and model insect prey in the presence or absence of different types of predators. We found that bird predation varied among localities and that invertebrate (spiders, ants) predators were affected by region, experimental treatment, and prey type. These data will be published in a scientific paper later this year.