Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

CS05 Benthos: Ecology and Ecotoxicology

Date: Friday, February 16, 2001, Time: 8:30:00 AM

Location: Cimarron

Gaines, K, H, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA, kgaines@unm.edu

IT'S NICE TO VISIT, BUT I WOULDN'T RAISE MY KIDS THERE: ECOLOGICAL FACTORS CONSTRAINING ODONATE BREEDING SUCCESS AND DIVERSITY IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

The Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge encompasses an unusual complex of wetlands and water-filled sinkholes interspersed with gypsum salt flats. Recent collections of adult dragonflies and damselflies suggest that the highest diversity of odonate species in New Mexico may occur in this area. The factors that make possible this diversity and the composition of the resident (breeding) population were unknown. Samples of odonate adults, larvae, and exuviae were collected periodically from the sinkhole region during the 2000 field season and identified to species level. Habitat data (water chemistry, types of aquatic vegetation, and presence of fish species) were also recorded. These data were used to determine abiotic and biotic correlates of odonate breeding success at sinkholes. Initial analyses suggest that odonate breeding sites are not randomly distributed across the study area, and that different assemblages of dragonfly species are successful at each sinkhole. The composition of species that bred successfully at the sinkholes does not correspond to the adult species composition found to date on the refuge. Additional sources of adults remain to be determined.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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