Natural disturbances may be so dramatic that the organisms that live in disturbed areas may be impacted by these disturbances for many years. However, few precise data documenting the impacts of natural disturbances are rare because reliable data prior to the disturbance is often absent. This study proposes to take advantage of a unique post-hurricane situation and have proposed a series of experiments to study the impact of a major hurricane on animal populations. The scientists funded off this grant had just finished their annual census of lizard and spider populations on 19 islands near Great Exhuma, Bahamas, when Hurricane Lili passed directly over the study site. This work will examine the effects of Anolis lizards on spider and insect populations as impacted by this major storm. In addition, these sets of experiments will examine in detail the top-down controls of community structure and primary/secondary production. It will represent the first long-term experimental study of the impact of terrestrial top predators on entire plant communities. It is hoped that this research will elucidate the dynamics of a predator-prey metapopulation, a topic that has generated much theoretical work, but with few data from natural systems.
