PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 30: Invertebrate Ecology
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Ecological and anthropogenic influences on littoral benthic macroinvertebrates of Sierra Nevada lakes.
Mehling , Molly *,1, Tylka, Megan 1, Oris, Jim 1, 1 Miami University, OXFORD, OH, United States
ABSTRACT- Lakes and reservoirs of the Sierra Nevada ecoregion are ecologically heterogeneous, oligotrophic ecosystems that vary in their sources and degree of human impact. The development of an integrated ecological assessment protocol is crucial to their conservation. Benthic macroinvertebrates are commonly used to assess lotic water quality, but less so in lentic ecosystems. The main goal of this project was to assess aquatic invertebrates as ecological indicators in Sierra Nevada lakes and reservoirs. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected from representative littoral habitat of 19 lakes and reservoirs. Due to the oligotrophic nature of these systems, the littoral zone was sampled to maximize the number of individuals collected. Non-metric multidimensional scaling and other multivariate statistical methods were used to elucidate correlations between littoral benthic macroinvertebrate communities and measures of ecological condition and human activity. The macroinvertebrate communities were correlated with landscape-scale, lake-scale and local habitat-scale variables. This study provides much needed baseline macroinvertebrate community data, contributes to the overall understanding of anthropogenic impacts in montane ecosystems, and assists in the development of management strategies for lakes and reservoirs of the western United States.
Key words: benthic macroinvertebrates, Sierra Nevada, multivariate statistics, littoral