Triangulating from the cairns…
The subalpine region of Colorado hosts a variety of aquatic habitats. The organisms that inhabit these ecosystems are presented with many ecological adversities and differing predator guilds. Limnephilus externus caddisfly larvae native to montane and subalpine ponds of the Elk Mountains of Colorado face predatory interactions as well as seasonal time constraints. They have adapted to these adversities by engineering intricate casings made from sedge and other pond debris held together with silk. Caddisfly case morphology differs among species to accommodate for a variety of environmental and biotic variables. Tradeoffs and the proper allocation of resources are necessary for the survival of caddisfly larvae to adulthood. Field observations have documented L. externus individuals grazing on their own casings as well as the cases of conspecifics. In this study we take surveys of pond variables such as L. externus densities, predator densities, amount of emergent and marginal sedge cover in percentage and elevation to determine what factors influence L. externus case grazing and case size. A controlled sweater box experiment was conducted to understand the extent that sedge availability impacts case size and case grazing. The results showed that case size increased as sedge availability increased and case grazing increased as sedge availability decreased. We expect that case size will positively correlate with predator abundance and amount of sedge, whereas L. externus density and elevation will negatively correlate with case size.
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