Author: Brandy Sue BergtholdPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aquatic ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
Macroinvertebrate Communities in Headwater Prairie Streams
Author: Brandy Sue BergtholdPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aquatic ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
Prairie Stream Ecology
Author: Jessica M. WarwickPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 129
Book Description
Tallgrass prairie streams and their fauna are understudied, due in part to their rarity. The composition of prairie stream communities differs geographically due to regionally and locally determined environmental characteristics and varies over time due to disturbance events. This research focused on expanding the current knowledge of temporal and spatial variation in the macroinvertebrate communities of Missouri prairie streams. Intra-seasonal variation in the macroinvertebrate community of one prairie stream was correlated with changes in the stream environment and resulted in three relatively short-lived but significant community groupings. These intra-seasonal community shifts also affected functional feeding group structure and led to significant differences in biomonitoring measures over the course of weeks. For situations in which small, dynamic stream systems need to be monitored, sampling should be conducted at frequent intervals to capture changes in communities that may occur within seasons. The regional diversity and community structure of prairie headwater stream communities is in part driven by both the intermittent nature and the relative scarcity of prairie stream habitat. The macroinvertebrate communities of the headwater networks from five prairies in Missouri were unique. Differences in their taxonomic composition led to differences in biomonitoring metric values. The distinct community compositions of the headwater prairie streams studied and the high regional diversity documented are likely driven by geographic isolation rather than local environmental factors. Each of these prairie stream systems is an important contributor to species diversity at a regional level. Conservation and restoration efforts must work to preserve the biotic diversity in prairie streams to support existing macroinvertebrate communities that remain. For lotic insects to maintain stable populations across fragmented prairie patches and their intermittent streams in Missouri, dispersal must occur between patches to enable recolonization of streams after disturbance. Leptophlebia konza Burian was thought to be restricted to its type locality of Konza Prairie, Kansas; however, a population was discovered at Hi Lonesome Prairie in Missouri during an extensive search of 54 prairies. DNA sequence data from cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, CO1, show that both populations of L. konza lost genetic diversity during a recent bottleneck, either because of habitat fragmentation or competition from other species, including Leptophlebia johnsoni McDunnough. The rarity of L. konza populations across Missouri when taken into consideration with DNA sequence data suggest that L. konza populations are unstable and unable to disperse between remaining prairie patches. Water quality monitoring and research activities taking place in prairie streams must take into account spatial and temporal variation in both community structure and genetic diversity across these landscapes.
Basal Resource Composition and Macroinvertebrate Community Structure in Tallgrass, Mixed-grass, and Shortgrass Prairie Headwater Streams
Author: Kasey E. FralickPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Grasslands
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
North American prairie headwater streams are highly threatened and relatively poorly studied. Most studies on prairie streams have occurred at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, a tallgrass prairie Long Term Ecological Research site in the Flint Hills ecoregion near Manhattan, KS. According to the Stream Biome Gradient Concept, several ecosystem factors vary along a gradient from more allochthonous forested streams to more autochthonous desert streams, with grassland streams often intermediate in several key ecological factors including litter inputs, primary production, and invertebrate abundance and biomass. However, few studies have examined the degree of variation that exists within prairie headwater streams, and whether this variation occurs along a longitudinal gradient as well, with more mesic tallgrass prairie streams differing from more xeric shortgrass prairie streams, and mixed-grass sites intermediate between the two. I examined thirteen prairie headwater stream sites in the central United States from 2014 to 2017. My objective was to determine whether basal resource composition - including standing stocks of coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM), fine particulate organic matter (FPOM), and very fine particulate organic matter (VFPOM), sestonic and benthic chlorophyll-a levels, and sources of CPOM - differed significantly among streams in tallgrass, mixed-grass, and shortgrass prairie regions. In addition, I examined whether invertebrate communities differed among tallgrass, mixed-grass, and shortgrass prairie regions, and whether this was reflected in the functional feeding group composition, habit composition, voltinism, and dispersal ability of invertebrate communities. There were no significant differences in total CPOM, FPOM, and VFPOM standing stocks among regions. However, CPOM composition did differ with region, with tallgrass sites having higher standing stocks of leaf litter, but lower standing stocks of grass litter and macrophyte litter than the other regions. Benthic chlorophyll-a did not differ significantly among regions, but there were lower sestonic chlorophyll-a levels in tallgrass sites. Given higher light availability and nutrient levels in shortgrass and mixed-grass streams, lack of stable substrata may be limiting benthic algae in these regions. Invertebrate abundance and biomass were highest in mixed-grass sites and lowest in tallgrass sites, with shortgrass sites intermediate. Mixed-grass sites also had significantly higher Shannon diversity and taxa richness than tallgrass sites. A NMDS revealed that sites differed in overall community structure. Functional feeding group composition did not differ significantly across regions, with collector-gatherers, followed by predators, dominating in all sites. High Predator-Prey Index (predator biomass: other invertebrate biomass) values in each region indicates strong top-down pressure and high turnover rates of prey taxa. While there was a weak correlation between leaf litter AFDM and invertebrate community structure, the correlation between latitude and longitude and invertebrate community structure was much higher, indicating that basal resources may not be the main drivers in these systems. Invertebrate habit composition did not differ with region; all regions were dominated by taxa preferring fine substrata (burrowers and sprawlers). All regions showed selection against semivoltine invertebrates and were dominated by high dispersing insect taxa, though the proportion of the insect community that consisted of high dispersers did not differ significantly with region. My results suggest that generalizing about prairie streams based on studies from one or a handful of sites may not be prudent, at least for some aspects. The higher proportion of autochthonous inputs in shortgrass and mixed-grass regions may drive increased invertebrate abundance, biomass, richness, and diversity, but the relative hydrologic stability of the mixed-grass sites might also explain these results or have an interactive or additive relationship with primary production. Overall, the link between basal resources and communities across prairie types was somewhat weak, and all regions were dominated by collector-gatherers with rapid life-cycles and high dispersal abilities, indicating that disturbance may be a more important community filter than basal resource composition. Streams in all three regions have highly variable hydrology, and this may be an overriding factor that results in similarity in communities.
Macroinvertebrate Community Structure and Feeding Dynamics in Three Forested Headwater Streams in Central Maine
Author: Emily R. ArsenaultPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aquaculture
Languages : en
Pages : 154
Book Description
Headwater streams have some of the best quality water in the country (Dissmeyer 2000). Because headwaters eventually flow into other downstream water bodies like rivers and lakes, they are important places to focus research and conservation efforts. All streams in this study had good water quality based on several assessments of macroinvertebrate communities. 1. Judging from metrics of abundance, richness, EPT, and HBI, all study streams had very good water quality. Thirty-nine total families were observed among the three streams. Whittier Stream was the least healthy of the three, most likely as a result of human disturbances such as a road crossing, fishpond, and mill remnants. It is probable these habitat alterations are having an effect on downstream benthic communities. 2. The riparian zone of each stream was forested and stable, but there were some eroding banks at some points along the study reaches. The abundance of sensitive macroinvertebrates (measured using representative Orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) increased with increasing percent canopy cover and decreased with high percentages of sand characterizing the streambed. 3. Macroinvertebrates can be categorized into functional feeding groups based on feeding behavior. Shredders should hypothetically be in high abundance in headwater streams due to high riparian organic matter inputs. However, observed shredders were limited. This may be due to seasonal changes in functional feeding group ratios. In addition, all study streams had a predator/prey ratio that was higher than the ratio expected for a typical stream, which suggests that there might be an abundance of prey biomass in the study stream headwaters. 4. Based on results from stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen, most macroinvertebrates within the study streams seem to be omnivorous. The most complex food web was observed at Stony Brook. Food webs of Beaver Brook and Stony Brook showed similar trophic clustering, a pattern that might be indicative of streams with excellent water quality.
A Comparison of the Macroinvertebrate Communities in Two Headwater Streams in Advance of an Invasive Forest Pest
Author: James J. Willacker (Jr.)Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aquatic invertebrates
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
Aquatic Invertebrate and Fish Communities of Tallgrass Prairie Headwater Streams
Author: David Michael StaglianoPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
Macroinvertebrate Biomonitoring Protocol for Four Prairie Streams
Author: James T. PetersonMacroinvertebrate Community Structure of Headwater Streams of the Buffalo National River, Arkansas, in Relation to Physicochemical Environmental Variables
Author: Carl Willard DickPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Benthos
Languages : en
Pages : 144
Book Description
Macroinvertebrate Responses to Removal of Riparian Woody Vegetation Along Tallgrass Prairie Streams
Author: Jodi M. VandermydePublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
Woody vegetation encroachment has become a major threat to tallgrass prairie streams mainly because of fire suppression. This process converts prairie streams from open to closed canopy systems. The effects of these riparian changes are poorly understood, but the relative importance of basal resources presumably shifts from primarily autochthonous to allochthonous with increasing canopy cover, potentially altering macroinvertebrate functional structure and production. To assess the effects of woody vegetation encroachment on stream ecosystem structure and function, riparian trees were removed from two headwater stream reaches on the Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) in eastern Kansas. Experimental stream reaches were compared to streams with naturally open and closed canopies before and after the manipulation. Riparian forest removal altered macroinvertebrate production and functional structure, but higher macroinvertebrate production in canopy removal reaches compared to naturally open reaches suggested natural conditions were not restored one year after riparian removal. However, macroinvertebrate communities in naturally open and canopy removal reaches became more similar after riparian removal. Functional structure, based on production, in naturally open and canopy removal reaches after riparian removal was dominated by scrapers (45-60% of total production), with similar proportions of collector-gatherers (12-26%) and predators (15-25%). Collector-filterers and shredders contributed
Macroinvertebrate Communities in Four Ouachita Mountain Headwater Streams
Author: Robert Kipling HethPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Freshwater invertebrates
Languages : en
Pages : 970
Book Description