• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • New theses and dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • New theses and dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Scholarworks@UACommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    First Time Submitters, Register Here

    Register

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Community composition and biogeography of beetles and spiders across an elevational gradient in Denali National Park, Alaska

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Haberski_A_2020.pdf
    Size:
    7.685Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Haberski, Adam
    Chair
    Sikes, Derek S.
    Committee
    Hollingsworth, Teresa
    Armbruster, W. Scott
    Keyword
    Beetles
    Alaska
    Denali National Park and Preserve
    Ecology
    Spiders
    Mountain ecology
    Tundra ecology
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12297
    Abstract
    Anthropogenic climate change is rapidly altering alpine ecosystems in Alaska. Trees and woody shrubs are expanding upslope and displacing alpine tundra. As alpine tundra habitats shrink and fragment, arthropods and other animals face an increased risk of extirpation due to smaller population sizes and reduced geneflow. Arthropods--insects, spiders, and their relatives--are the most speciose component of the alpine fauna and perform key ecosystem services, such as pollination and nutrient cycling, and are food for vertebrates. Many species have responded by shifting their distribution to higher elevations, but species respond to change idiosyncratically, which could alter species interactions and disrupt communities. I compared beetle and spider communities along an elevational gradient in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, an area with a complex biogeographic history and a poorly known arthropod fauna, in order to 1) examine differences in diversity, abundance, and community composition among forest, shrub, and alpine tundra habitats; 2) link the observed differences to abiotic factors relevant to climate change; and 3) test if shared habitat preferences lead to community-level patterns in geographic distribution. After three consecutive summers of sampling, I found that alpine tundra supports an unexpectedly diverse arthropod community with a high proportion of unique species and that vegetation cover and mean air temperature are strongly correlated with community composition. I therefore expect species losses among alpine tundra communities as shrubification continues. Community-level distribution patterns were not observed, but trends in the data point to a reduction of Holarctic distributions among forest-dwelling arthropods and an increased proportion of Beringian endemics among tundra species. This was the first systematic survey of Denali's terrestrial arthropods and added over 450 new park records.
    Description
    Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2020
    Table of Contents
    Chapter 1: General introduction -- 1.1 Alpine tundra -- 1.2 Alpine arthropods -- 1.3 Effects of climate change on alpine environments and arthropods -- 1.4 Denali National Park and Preserve -- 1.5 Study goals -- 1.6 Figures. Chapter 2: Arthropod communities differ across an elevational gradient in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska -- 2.1 Abstract -- 2.2 Introduction -- 2.3 Methods -- 2.4 Results -- 2.5 Discussion -- 2.6 References -- 2.7 Figures -- 2.8 Tables. Chapter 3: Community-level patterns of Beringian dispersal among ground-dwelling beetles and spiders in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska -- 3.1 Abstract -- 3.2 Introduction -- 3.3 Methods -- 3.4 Results -- 3.5 Discussion -- 3.6 References -- 3.7 Figures -- 3.8 Tables. Chapter 4: General conclusion -- 4.1 Future directions -- 4.2 References -- Appendix.
    Date
    2020-08
    Type
    Thesis
    Collections
    New theses and dissertations

    entitlement

     
    ABOUT US|HELP|BROWSE|ADVANCED SEARCH

    The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution and is a part of the University of Alaska system.

    ©UAF 2013 - 2022 | Questions? ua-scholarworks@alaska.edu | Last modified: September 25, 2019

    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.