5/23/2016  |   10:30 - 10:45   |  309-310

RESPONSE OF PLANT SPECIES TO MODIFICATION IN HYDROLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IN VERNAL POOLS DUE TO PREDICTED CHANGES IN THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE Regional variation in meteorological parameters, including precipitation (P) and temperature dependent evapotranspiration (ET), due to climate change will result in changes to vernal pool hydrological functioning. Individual vernal pools respond differentially to P & ET due to soil and topographic setting and regional climate differences. Plant species are adapted to specific ranges of hydroperiod, depth of inundation, soil moisture and soil anaerobic conditions. Research on vernal pool hydrology and vegetation determined that plant species abundance varies within pool hydrological gradients and among pools. The response of plants to within vernal pool hydrological gradients is due to their physical and physiological adaptations and life history characteristics. Vernal pools plant species are very sensitive to variation in P & ET. Hydrological models of vernal pools were used to calculate changes in pool hydrology due to regional climate change. The result is San Joaquin Valley vernal pools will become drier while northern Sacramento Valley vernal pools will become wetter relative to current conditions. Regional differences in plant species presence and abundance will occur.

Niall McCarten (Primary Presenter/Author), Dept. of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, nfmccarten@ucdavis.edu;


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5/23/2016  |   10:45 - 11:00   |  309-310

SEASONAL VARIATION OF MACROINVERTEBRATES IN A TEMPORARY WETLAND OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Seasonal wetlands are important habitats for both invertebrate and vertebrate biodiversity. The chronology of taxa appearance and relative abundances during the hydroperiod of seasonal wetlands are important for understanding population dynamics as aquatic habitat shrinks. This study investigated the successional changes in macroinvertebrate abundances in a seasonal wetland in northern California (USA). Water quality parameters were measured regularly, including dissolved oxygen, temperature, surface area, and specific conductance during the wet season (January-July) in 2007-2009. Macroinvertebrates were collected with net sweeps, and the presence of life stages of amphibians were visually observed from March-June each year. As the hydroperiod progressed wetland surface area decreased, while water temperature and specific conductance increased. Moreover, sequential changes in dominant macroinvertebrate taxa and relative taxa abundances occurred, particularly among several macroinvertebrate predators. Among the macroinvertebrate predators collected, the early-season community was dominated by dytiscid beetles, while later-season communities were dominated by Lestes damselflies. The phenology of taxa and specific life history strategies may impact the sensitivity of macroinvertebrate populations to increased annual variation in hydroperiod that may result from climate changes in this region.

Michael Peterson (Primary Presenter/Author), California Department of Insurance, petersmg@berkeley.edu;


Kevin Lunde ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board, Kevin.Lunde@waterboards.ca.go;


Ming-Chih Chiu ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of California, Berkeley, mcchiu@berkeley.edu;


Vincent Resh ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of California, Berkeley, resh@berkeley.edu;


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5/23/2016  |   11:00 - 11:15   |  309-310

HYDROREGIME INTERACTS WITH SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SUBSIDIES IN CALIFORNIA VERNAL POOLS In temporary freshwater ecosystems, hydyroregime is a dominating factor that can interact with biotic and abiotic factors to affect species composition. Few studies, however, have experimentally investigated the importance of these interactions under different hydroregimes on species composition. Moreover, few studies assess how the aquatic and terrestrial phases can interact through time. The purpose of this study was to examine the aquatic invertebrate and subsequent terrestrial plant community structure of seasonal ponds in response to hydroregime (inundation length and timing), nutrient addition, and plant thatch using a fully factorial mesocosm experiment. Hydroregime interacted with nutrients and thatch in complex ways to affect aquatic invertebrate richness and abundance over time. Hydroperiod increased passive dispersers, but reduced active dispersers and plant abundance and richness. In contrast, plant thatch reduced passive dispersers and terrestrial plants, but increased active dispersers. Nutrients had effects on algal abundance, which indirectly affected invertebrates and plants. With California’s variable climate, understanding how environmental variation affects community structure and endangered species’ responses will be important for management of California vernal pools.

Jamie Kneitel (Primary Presenter/Author), California State University, Sacramento, kneitel@csus.edu;


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5/23/2016  |   11:15 - 11:30   |  309-310

RELATING ANOSTRACAN DISTRIBUTION TO PHYSICAL HABITAT CHARACTERISTICS IN NORTH AMERICA (CRUSTACEA: BRANCHIOPODA) Nine anostracan biogeographical regions are defined for North America: Appalachia/Ozark, Southwest Arid, Great Plains, Coastal Plain, Neotropical, California, Cold Deserts, Beringia/Canadian Shield, and Transmontane. These regions were previously defined quantitatively using species distributions compared through statistics. An examination of substrate geochemical components (%CaSO4*H2O, %CaCO3, salinity, and dominate salt cations), strengthen the previously defined bioregions and strong relationships between geochemical parameters and the distributions of all 63 US species were discovered. Similar relationships were found for species assemblages as well. Furthermore, two widespread species were found to occur in very different habitat types in different biogeographical regions. Upon closer examination, these two taxa were each found to be comprised of more than one species.

Christopher Rogers (Primary Presenter/Author), Kansas University/ Kansas Biological Survey, Branchiopod@gmail.com;


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5/23/2016  |   11:30 - 11:45   |  309-310

NUTRIENT FLOWS AND SUBSIDIES ACROSS AQUATIC-TERRESTRIAL BOUNDARIES OF TEMPORARY PONDS VIA AMPHIBIAN MIGRATIONS Energy and nutrient subsidies across aquatic-terrestrial boundaries are recognized in systems ranging from oceanic islands to freshwater wetlands. Such subsidies are important for recipient habitats and can alter consumer distribution and increase consumer growth, abundance, and biomass. Temporary ponds can be closely linked to surrounding forests via forest-to-pond and pond-to-forest subsidies, including amphibian egg deposition and metamorph emergence. We intensively sampled amphibian assemblages in eight temporary ponds in Southern Illinois to quantify nutrient flows associated with egg deposition and metamorph emergence for ten species breeding in the ponds. We analyzed nitrogen (N), carbon (C), and phosphorous (P) content of egg masses and recently emerged metamorphs of each species. Percent N in eggs ranged from 9.3 ± 0.4 to 11.1 ± 0.2, %C from 47.3 ± 0.9 to 52.6 ± 0.2, and %P from 0.03 ± 0.01 to 0.07 ± 0.03. We used these estimates to produce total amphibian nutrient budgets for each pond and species. Understanding the roles of amphibians in linking habitats is increasingly important in light of ongoing extirpations and population declines.

Kelley Fritz (Primary Presenter/Author), Southeastern Missouri State University, k.a.fritz24@gmail.com;


Lucas Kirschman ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Southern Illinois University Carbondale, l.j.kirschman@gmail.com;


Matt Whiles ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Florida, mwhiles@ufl.edu;


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5/23/2016  |   11:45 - 12:00   |  309-310

COMMUNITY DISASSEMBLY IN EPHEMERAL ECOSYSTEMS Community disassembly is the nonrandom process of progressive species declines and losses and is usually studied in the context of how communities or food webs lose species to a variety of anthropogenic stressors. However, in ephemeral ecosystems, community disassembly is a natural and repeated process. Ephemeral waterbodies fundamentally change near the end of their hydroperiod. These mechanisms cause visible patterns of community disassembly. Decreasing habitat sizes eliminates microhabitats and increases encounter rates between organisms, possibly increasing predation and competition. A harshening habitat eliminates species with low tolerances, changes the proportions of specialists and generalists, and forces organisms to adapt, emigrate, or die. Furthermore, the entire metacommunity may be forced into similar stages of disassembly and collapse. While some disassembly occurs too fast for biotic interactions or compensatory dynamics to be important, organisms undergoing natural disassembly should be adapted for it. Thus, predictions of disassembly based on internal or biotic patterns may be more common, predictable and understandable in natural disassembly scenarios than seen in a permanent ecosystem’s reaction to a never-before-seen anthropogenic disturbance.

Brian O'Neill (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, oneillb@uww.edu;


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