The impact of climate change on temporary pond macroinvertebrate communities

Long-term changes in climatic conditions resulting from greenhouse gas emissions have been shown to have a marked effect on many species. Less well studied are the impacts of climate change on whole communities and in particular the consequences of these changes on the interactions between species within a community. This thesis aimed to test the following hypotheses: (i) the composition of temporary pond macroinvertebrate communities will be influenced by climatic conditions affecting variables such as water depth and temperature, but these impacts will differ according to pond geology and habitat type, (ii) the impact of temperature on life history traits will be modified by the interactions between species within the community and (iii) it is possible to predict the point at which future climatic conditions will become unsuitable for temporary pond specialist species.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo