Past research suggests that the detritus pathway, or brown trophic pathway, is key to the availability of nutrients in nutrient-limited aquatic ecosystems. The interplay between the green and brown paths in aquatic food webs is relatively understudied, yet it is likely that the productivity of nutri

Many, but not all, animals respond to the sounds of their predators to assess predation risk. For those that can, does this ability persist after a predator has gone extinct? Are all predatory species equally likely to generate antipredator responses? And, more generally, what are the proximate mech

With human population on the rise, human presence in wildlife areas will rise along side it. The study of how human activity is affecting wild animals in any and all aspects is of vast importance. This growing overlap is due to effect both sides of the issue, the humans and the animals. My study foc

Natal dispersal is a primary force in shaping ecological processes and population dynamics. There are several costs to the disperser that may be outweighed by potential benefits, including increased resources or access to mates in a new population site. Personality types or behavioral syndromes appe

There are many abiotic and biotic factors that affect plant distribution. Both of these have the potential to create strong selective pressures and drive habitat specialization. Here Cardamine cordifolia is used to investigate the differences in flowering phenology and bittercress fitness across and

The diversity of avian species and their coexistence in riparian habitat has become increasingly significant in the face of rapidly decreasing vegetation along hydric areas, primarily due to pollution, urbanization, overgrazing, and climate change. The complex and rare riparian habitat system is pri

Top-down and bottom-up effects can be seen in tritrophic systems of plants, herbivores and predators. Understanding what factors have a significant impact on herbivores can explain patterns of herbivory in the field. In this study, I report on the aphid Cavariella aegopodii on the plant, Ligusticum

In order to maintain in the population, female plants of gynodioecious species must compensate for their loss of male function. Understanding how mutualist pollinators and antagonists such as seed predators respond to floral cues presented by female and hermaphrodite flowers in ways that could contr

Pollination by native bees is an essential ecosystem service in both natural and agricultural systems. During the last several decades, there have been reported declines in native bee populations worldwide. Due to recent declines, there is an increasing need for standardized population monitoring pr

Individuals may obtain valuable information about the presence of predators by eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm signals. While playback studies have demonstrated that similarly-sized and taxonomically-related species may respond to the calls of each other, less work has been done to define the

In small temporary ponds (“Kettle Ponds”) near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, several species of detritivorous caddisflies coexist as detritus processors. Three congeneric caddisflies, Limnephilus externus, Limnephilus sublunatus, and Limnephilus tarsalis play an impor

Animal personality typically refers to a behavioral manifestations stable across time and contexts (Sih et al. 2004, Réale et al. 2007). Personality has been shown to shape fitness and may therefore shape population dynamics though such traits as dominance, response to stress, and reproductive perfo

Changes in species distributions across elevations can be responses to anthropogenic climate disruption. Movement of species to higher elevations can result in local extirpations and colonization that could escalate and critically endanger native species. Studying systems that have experienced histo

We measured Specific leaf area for 23 plants across six elevational sites spanning a total of 610 meters. Within each site, we sampled twenty individuals from each species that was present to determine intraspecific variance in SLA. Nine species showed a significant positive relationship with elevat

The Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) is a keystone species in montane/subalpine ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. By excavating nest cavities in aspen trees and sap wells in willow shrubs, sapsuckers indirectly provide nest holes and food, respectively, to many other species.

I tested the oviposition preference of the leaf miner Scaptomyza nigrita of and within its native host plant Cardamine cordifolia. Gravid female S. nigrita were used in cafeteria-style choice tests to quantitatively evaluate feeding and oviposition preference between C. cordifolia from shaded and su

The risk of predation influences the behavior of individuals and can determine how an animal allocates its time when searching for and obtaining food. To reduce predation risk, many animals use refuges and protective cover to increase their chances of survival, but it is unclear how these safe areas

Phenology is an important life history trait. As altitude increases in alpine environments, the growing season shortens and flowering phenology is more compressed. Co-flowering could occur more at higher elevations as a compensation for the shorter growing season. However, interspecific competition

Dioecious plants have been observed to exhibit differences in growth rates and levels of herbivory defense between the sexes, with slower growing females investing more into constitutive defenses than fast-growing males. There are no predictions or empirical data, though, regarding differences in in

One of the most talked about potential consequences of climate change is that of phenological mismatches between interacting species, such as flowering plants and their pollinators. While there is ample long term data for plant phenology, there is little data on pollinator phenology. It is becoming