Role of habitat complexity and predation in the structuring of aquatic communities

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the roles habitat complexity and predation play in the structuring of aquatic communities. Chapter one provides an overview of the way habitat complexity structures communities separately, and by altering predator prey interactions in all aquatic habitats. The following two chapters examine their combined effects using different predator-prey pairs and time scopes: short-term laboratory experiments and a medium-term mesocosm experiment.