The Origins of Post-eruption Insect Populations on the Aleutian Island of Kasatochi

Abstract

This project compares the dispersal and/or survival ability of insects on the recently erupted volcanic Aleutian Island of Kasatochi. The island erupted in 2008, two months after the island had been briefly surveyed for terrestrial arthropods. Having pre-eruption specimens provides biologists with a unique and rare perspective of island ecosystem assembly. We have analyzed the DNA of 47 pre- and post- eruption Scathophaga sp. specimens to determine the origins of post-eruption insect populations. This genetic work is especially important for the Aleutians arthropods because they are among the most understudied in the United States.