Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS45 Temporary Aquatic Ecosystems: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001, Time: 4:30:00 PM

Location: Cochiti/Taos

DeBiase, A, E, Savanah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, USA, debiase@srel.edu

Taylor, B, E, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, USA, taylor@srel.edu

PREDICTING MICROCRUSTACEAN COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN SOON-TO-BE-RESTORED TEMPORARY PONDS

Twenty temporary wetland ponds in South Carolina are scheduled for hydrological restoration in early 2001. Microcrustacean data from 2.5 yrs of pre-restoration sampling, and from a set of 88 benchmark wetland ponds located nearby, were used to predict post-restoration species richness and composition. We predict that as the hydroperiod length increases, the species richness will also increase, provided the resting egg banks have remained intact. Ponds with very short pre-restoration hydroperiods will likely gain the most species (10 or more), while smaller increases will be observed in ponds with intermediate and long pre-restoration hydroperiods. Ponds with very short pre-restoration hydroperiods may also lose species, such as conchostracans and the calanoid copepod, Aglaodiaptomus stagnalis, that require periods of dessication for their resting eggs to hatch. Previous work suggests that communities will continue to change for at least 5 yr post-restoration. The time course of change may depend on the proximity of sources of colonists, and it could be strongly influenced by anthropogenic introductions, intended or inadvertent.

Return to This Session's Schedule · Complete Session Listing ·

Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

Quicklinks