Linking behavioral, population, and community ecology: Consequences of oviposition-site selection in tree hole metacommunities

Though researchers have advocated a more direct link between individual, population, and community processes, translating the behavior of individuals to the dynamics of natural populations and communities has remained a major challenge in ecology. Very little empirical work is targeted at examining the movement rules organisms actually use in natural systems or testing the relative importance of movement behavior in generating population and community phenomena. Accordingly, the purpose of this dissertation was to use tree hole metacommunities to explore: (1) the movement and oviposition behavior of tree hole mosquitoes, and (2) the consequences of these behaviors for population and community dynamics.;Results from a mark-release-recapture experiment provided evidence for weak habitat selection in Ochlerotatus triseriatus (Say), the eastern tree hole mosquito. Habitat preferences generated higher larval densities in deciduous forests with dense understory vegetation than in evergreen forests or open fields. Because results of larval competition experiments showed no differences in fitness among deciduous forest and evergreen forest habitats at low larval densities, these habitat selection behaviors likely generate a negative preference-performance relationship when regional densities are low. However, fitness differences among habitats were substantial at high larval densities, which would result in a positive preference-performance relationship when regional abundances are high. In addition, the habitat selective behaviors of tree hole mosquitoes had important consequences for local and regional community dynamics. High predation rates by these and other dipteran larvae substantially decreased local prey richness and abundance generating low prey diversity in deciduous habitats where predator densities were high, but high prey diversity in evergreen forest habitats where predator densities were low.;This research illustrates the importance of studying behavior at the scale of the population to better evaluate its relative importance in determining population and community dynamics. Results also demonstrate that failure to recognize that fitness differences among habitats may themselves be density-dependent may lead to inaccurate conclusions about the consequences of oviposition preferences for population growth. Finally, this research highlights the usefulness of the metacommunity concept as a tool for identifying the processes that are important in determining predator-prey metacommunity dynamics in natural systems.