Graduation Date
Spring 2026
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Biology
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Paul Bourdeau
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. Jianmin Zhong
Third Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Fourth Committee Member Name
Dr. Leonora Bittleston
Fourth Committee Member Affiliation
Community Member or Outside Professional
Keywords
Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning, Metacommunity ecology, Microbial communities, Darlingtonia californica, California pitcher plant, Aquatic microecosystems, Ecosystem function, Community succession, Spatial structure, Environmental filtering
Subject Categories
Biology
Abstract
The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem-function (BEF) has been a central focus of ecological research for the last three decades, yet the role of space in shaping BEF relationships remains relatively unknown. Research has shown that community diversity and composition can strongly influence productivity, nutrient cycling, and decomposition, but much of this work treats communities as spatially isolated, leaving open how dispersal and other spatial processes shape BEF at broader scales. To begin addressing this gap, I used microbial communities inhabiting Darlingtonia californica pitcher plant leaves to evaluate how spatial organization and successional change shape biodiversity and ecosystem-functioning. I quantified bacterial biodiversity using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and evaluated ecosystem-functioning by measuring prey degradation, carbon substrate use, and fluid protein concentration across 54 pitcher leaves in Gasquet, California. Results indicated little evidence for metacommunity-scale spatial clustering of diversity or ecosystem-functioning at the scale sampled. Instead, the strongest and most consistent predictor of biodiversity was leaf age: bacterial richness increased across successional stages, and community composition shifted modestly with age, including taxa more consistently associated with older leaves. Despite these successional changes in biodiversity and composition, no consistent relationship emerged between bacterial richness and ecosystem-functioning. Together, these findings suggest that iii successional assembly structures diversity without producing a uniform diversity-function relationship at the metacommunity scale.
Citation Style
Ecology
Recommended Citation
Sutter, Gavin, "From theory to ecosystems: Exploring biodiversity and ecosystem-function in pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica) microbial communities" (2026). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2577.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2577
Included in
Biodiversity Commons, Bioinformatics Commons, Biology Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Microbiology Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Plant Biology Commons