Date of Award:

5-2015

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Watershed Sciences

Committee Chair(s)

Todd A. Crowl

Committee

Todd A. Crowl

Committee

Alan P. Covich

Committee

Phaedra Budy

Committee

Chris Luecke

Committee

Mark Brunson

Abstract

Historically, cities were established in close proximity to the richest agricultural lands and freshwater resources. In tropical islands, urbanization occupies a large percentage of land use along streams and rivers and strongly affects the biota and habitat quality. I studied freshwater decapod population and community dynamics in tropical streams of Puerto Rico across human and elevational gradients. I found that: 1) streams with less urbanization had higher decapod species richness and population sizes than the highly urbanized streams; 2) changes in the food webs in the streams are the result of the influence of changes in land use and environmental conditions in their watersheds; 3) Atya lanipes and Xiphocaris elongata marked and measured biannually over a 10 year period have a relatively long lifespan (over 15 years) and slow growth rates (Atya grew an average of 0.27 mm per year while Xiphocaris only 0.1 mm per year). In order to present the results of our investigations in the Luquillo Forest, we developed an education plan which includes web sites, field exercises, and training program for teachers and students. The results suggested that ecological education and outreach efforts should explore the use of available and trusted methods of dissemination to supplement and encourage use of the internet as a reliable source of information. I conclude that changes in land use have a direct impact on streams components and in the terrestrial corridor near the water body. Alterations of these components can increase the erosion of the stream banks, sedimentation and water flow that impacts the habitat, abundance, diversity and life cycle of organisms in the stream.

Checksum

fb696fe4855bf117c6d74d64c78b74c7

Download

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .