HR: 11:15h
AN: NB52F-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Macroinvertebrate Community Responses to the Chemical Removal of Phragmites in a Lake Erie Coastal Wetland
AU: * Kulesza, A E
EM: kulesza.5@osu.edu
AF: The Ohio State University, Aquatic Ecology Lab, 1314 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, OH 43212 United States
AU: Holomuzki, J R
EM: holomuzki.3@osu.edu
AF: The Ohio State University-Mansfield, Department of EEOB, 1680 University Dr., Mansfield, OH 44906 United States
AU: Klarer, D M
EM: david.klarer@oldwomancreek.org
AF: Old Woman Creek Nature Preserve, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 2514 Cleveland Rd. East, Huron, OH 44839 United States
AB: The invasive giant reed, Phragmites australis, can quickly form near-monotypic stands in North American wetlands, and as a result, sometimes reduce system biodiversity. However, the effects of Phragmites, and of the glyphosate herbicides used to control it, on trophic structure in benthic communities in these systems are less well known. Our study compares macroinvertebrate, algal, and juvenile fish diversity in replicate 10 x 5 m stands of Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaf cattail), glyphosate-sprayed Phragmites, and unsprayed Phragmites in a Lake Erie coastal wetland in Huron, Ohio. Macroinvertebrate diversity and proportions of functional feeding groups did not differ among stand types. However, overall densities of macroinvertebrates did vary among stands. Snails and larval chironomids and odonates were typically higher in Phragmites than in Typha stands. Interactions between changing water levels, algal densities, and prevailing flow patterns partly explain these outcomes. Ovipositing adult odonates did not prefer a particular stand type. Similarly, captures of juvenile fish did not vary among stands. Our results suggest that Phragmites, at least in small to moderately sized-patches, and herbicide application to these patches, does not detrimentally affect diversity in wetland, benthic communities.
DE: 4804 Benthic processes/benthos
DE: 9902 NABS Student Award Applied Research
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly