Poster Details
BIOGEOGRAPHY OF BENTHIC INVERTEBRATE BIOMASS: DOES FAMILY-LEVEL BIOMASS TRACK REGIONAL VARIATION IN STREAM TEMPERATURE?
Rising stream temperatures are likely to have important consequences for benthic macroinvertebrate abundance and growth. Previous research on invertebrate secondary production has highlighted the importance of water temperature for discrete taxa, but relatively little is known about the potential effects of altered temperature on higher-level groups, such as families. We addressed this knowledge gap by testing for correlations between the standing stock biomass of benthic macroinvertebrate families (pooled genera within families) and mean annual stream temperatures. At each of six study sites, three in the eastern U.S. and three in the western U.S., we collected fixed-area benthic macroinvertebrate samples. Individual dry mass estimates were obtained with published length-mass regressions, then pooled within families. Total family-level dry mass is now being compared with the model-predicted mean annual water temperature at each site to determine whether some macroinvertebrate families are more strongly associated with stream temperature than others.
Khalil Carson (Primary Presenter/Author), GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, kc06218@georgiasouthern.edu;
Checo Colon-Gaud (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Georgia Southern University, jccolongaud@georgiasouthern.edu;
Daniel McGarvey (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, djmcgarvey@vcu.edu;