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TITLE PAGE - acumen - The University of Alabama

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Chapters Four and Five utilized a 5+-year mark-recapture data set on the cave-adapted<br />

crayfish Orconectes australis to explore how energy availability has shaped its evolutionary<br />

history and population dynamics. Time-to-maturity, age-at-first-reproduction, and longevity <strong>of</strong><br />

O. australis were substantially longer than those estimated for most crayfish species, indicating<br />

evolution <strong>of</strong> a K-selected life history. Chapter Five found that biomass and secondary production<br />

<strong>of</strong> O. australis were positively related to resource availability. Energetic models indicated<br />

resource deficits were not present, but that nearly all prey production is necessary to support each<br />

O. australis population. Thus, inter- and intra-specific competition for resources within caves is<br />

likely high. Collectively, Chapters Four and Five provide the first quantitative explanation <strong>of</strong><br />

why K-selected life histories are an evolutionary advantage to obligate cave taxa like O.<br />

australis.<br />

iii

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