Elevated atmospheric CO2 can alter aquatic communities via changes in allochthonous litter inputs. We tested effects of atmospheric CO2 on the invasive Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and native Aedes triseriatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae) via changes in competition for microbial food or resource inhibition/toxicity. Quercus alba L. litter was produced under elevated (879 ppm) and ambient (388 ppm) atmospheric CO2. Saplings grown at elevated CO2 produced greater litter biomass, which decayed faster and leached more tannins than saplings at ambient CO2. Competition was tested by raising larvae in different species and density combinations provisioned with elevated- or ambient-CO2 litter. Species-specific performance to water conditions was tested by providing single-species larval cohorts with increasing amounts of elevated- or ambient-CO2 litter, or increasing concentrations of tannic acid. Larval densities affected some fitness parameters of Ae. albopictus and Ae. triseriatus, but elevated-CO2 litter did not modify the effects of competition on population growth rates or any fitness parameters. Population growth rates and survival of each species generally were affected negatively by increasing amounts of both elevated- and ambient-CO2 litter from 0.252 to 2.016 g/liter, and tannic acid concentrations above 100 mg/liter were entirely lethal to both species. Aedes albopictus had consistently higher population growth rates than Ae. triseriatus. These results suggest that changes to litter production and chemistry from elevated CO2 are unlikely to affect the competitive outcome between Ae. albopictus and Ae. triseriatus, but that moderate increases in litter production increase population growth rates of both species until a threshold is exceeded that results in resource inhibition and toxicity.

Conservation efforts have been implemented in agroecosystems to enhance pollinator diversity by creating grassland habitat, but little is known about the exposure of bees to pesticides while foraging in these grassland fields. Pesticide exposure was assessed in 24 conservation grassland fields along an agricultural gradient at two time points (July and August) using silicone band passive samplers (nonlethal) and bee tissues (lethal). Overall, 46 pesticides were detected including 9 herbicides, 19 insecticides, 17 fungicides, and a plant growth regulator. For the bands, there were more frequent/higher concentrations of herbicides in July (maximum: 1600 ng/band in July; 570 ng/band in August), while insecticides and fungicides had more frequent/higher concentrations in August (maximum: 110 and 65 ng/band in July; 1500 and 1700 ng/band in August). Pesticide concentrations in bands increased 16% with every 10% increase in cultivated crops. The bee tissues showed no difference in detection frequency, and concentrations were similar among months; maximum concentrations of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides in July and August were 17, 27, and 180 and 19, 120, and 170 ng/g, respectively. Pesticide residues in bands and bee tissues did not always show the same patterns; of the 20 compounds observed in both media, six (primarily fungicides) showed a detection-concentration relationship between the two media. Together, the band and bee residue data can provide a more complete understanding of pesticide exposure and accumulation in conserved grasslands.

Allochthonous leaf litter is often the main resource base for invertebrate communities in ephemeral water-filled containers, and detritus quality can be affected by hydrologic conditions. The invasive mosquito Aedes albopictus utilizes container habitats for its development where it competes as larvae for detritus and associated microorganisms with the native Aedes triseriatus. Different hydrologic conditions that containers are exposed to prior to mosquito utilization affect litter decay and associated water quality. We tested the hypothesis that larval competition between A. albopictus and A. triseriatus would be differentially affected by prior hydrologic conditions. Experimental microcosms provisioned with Quercus alba L. litter were subjected to one of three different hydrologic treatments prior to the addition of water and mosquito larvae: dry, flooded, and a wet/dry cycle. Interspecific competition between A. albopictus and A. triseriatus was mediated by hydrologic treatment, and was strongest in the dry treatment vs. the flooded or wet/dry treatments. Aedes triseriatus estimated rate of population change (λ') was lowest in the dry treatment. Aedes albopictus λ' was unaffected by hydrologic treatment, and was on average always increasing (i.e., > 1). Aedes triseriatus λ' was affected by the interaction of hydrologic treatment with interspecific competition, and was on average declining (i.e., < 1.0), at the highest interspecific densities in the dry treatment. Dry treatment litter had the slowest decay rate and leached the highest concentration of tannin-lignin, but supported more total bacteria than the other treatments. These results suggest that dry conditions negatively impact A. triseriatus population performance and may result in the competitive exclusion of A. triseriatus by A. albopictus, possibly by reducing microbial taxa that Aedes species browse. Changing rainfall patterns with climate change are likely to affect competition between A. triseriatus and A. albopictus, probably enhancing negative competitive effects of A. albopictus on A. triseriatus in areas that experience drought.

A p h a n iz o m enon f o s-a q u a e Klamath River Basin Water-Quality Data Water is a critical resource in the basin for farming and municipal use, power generation, and support of aquatic ecosystems and endangered species. Water appears green near this railroad trestle in Lake Ewauna, Oregon, because of an algal bloom.

No abstract