Poster Details
SCALING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FRESHWATER INSECT DIVERSITY AND THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT
Climate change and human land use are leading threats to freshwater biodiversity. Terrestrial primary productivity may modify the effects of climate and land use on freshwater biodiversity, because primary productivity often correlates positively with biodiversity, and stream organisms are partly reliant on terrestrial primary production for organic matter. Relationships between climate, the terrestrial environment, and freshwater biodiversity likely differ across spatial scales and may vary among different forms of freshwater biodiversity– taxonomic and functional. These scaling relationships have yet to be quantified at continental extents. We are addressing these knowledge gaps by building a database of species occurrence records and functional traits for freshwater insects across the continental United States. We are characterizing relationships of remotely sensed climate, land use, and terrestrial primary productivity with stream insect taxonomic and functional diversity at three spatial scales, using watersheds of the US Geological Survey hydrological unit codes ranging in area from 103 to 43,512 km2. This study will advance conservation planning by identifying regions of high freshwater insect diversity, land use impacts, and the scales at which remotely sensed measures of climate and the terrestrial environment are effective for predicting freshwater biodiversity.
Laura Twardochleb (Primary Presenter/Author), Michigan State University, twardoch@msu.edu;
Quentin Read (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, qdr@msu.edu;
Phoebe Zarnetske (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, plz@anr.msu.edu;
Ethan Hiltner (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, hiltnere@msu.edu;
Kyla Dahlin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, kdahlin@msu.edu;
Kendra Cheruvelil (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, ksc@msu.edu;
Patricia Soranno (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, soranno@msu.edu;
Aaron Kamoske (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, kamoskea@msu.edu;