Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Abstract

The National Park Service has initiated the Inventory & Monitoring Program to identify and monitor vital signs of park conditions throughout the United States. Initial assessments and inventories are required to facilitate this monitoring program. This effort provided preliminary and methodologically consistent descriptions for wadeable and non-wadeable streams of the Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN). Sweepnet samples were collected from 41 reaches of 7 non-wadeable streams and 23 wadeable streams during the summers of 2004 and 2005 using modified U.S. EPA EMAP protocols. Wadeable stream samples contained 219 taxa (77 families, 188 genera), comprised primarily of insects (86%). Non-wadeable samples contained 179 taxa (62 families, 148 genera), also mostly insects (85%). Diptera and Coleoptera contributed the greatest number of genera and species to wadeable and non-wadeable stream communities. However, Ephemeroptera and Diptera were most numerically abundant from both habitats and the cumulative percent contribution of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera averaged 33.9% and 37.3% in wadeable and nonwadeable streams, respectively. Wadeable stream Shannon-Weiner H’ (SW) averaged 1.71 while non-wadeable SW averaged 1.51. Hilsenhoff Biotic Index values in wadeable sites ranged from 3.1 to 9.6 while non-wadeable site values ranged from 0.9 to 9.0. Swimming and clinging taxa, shredding large or gathering fine organic detritus were most abundant. Feeding and habit guild diversity was roughly similar between wadeable and non-wadeable stream classes. Results of this effort provide some of the first inventories and descriptions of aquatic invertebrates allowing comparisons among all 13 parks. These data provide a baseline for future monitoring of wadeable and non-wadeable streams within the network.

Publication Title

Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science

Volume

85

First Page

49

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