Aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in mitigated and natural wetlands

Abstract

Many wetlands have been constructed in West Virginia as mitigation for a variety of human disturbances, but no comprehensive evaluation on their success has been conducted. Macroinvertebrates are extremely valuable components of functioning wetland ecosystems. As such, benthic and water column invertebrate communities were chosen as surrogates for wetland function in the evaluation of 11 mitigation and 4 reference wetlands in West Virginia. Mitigation wetlands ranged in age from 4 to 21 years old. Overall familial richness, diversity, density and biomass were similar between mitigation and reference wetlands (p > 0.05). Within open water habitats, total benthic invertebrate density was higher in reference wetlands, but mass of common taxa from water column samples was higher in mitigation wetlands (p < 0.05). Planorbidae density from benthic samples in emergent habitats was higher in reference than mitigated wetlands. Benthic Oligochaeta density was higher across open water habitats in mitigation wetlands. All other benthic taxa were similar between wetland types. Among the most common water column orders, Isopoda density was higher in reference wetlands, but Physidae density was higher in mitigation wetlands. Within mitigation wetlands, emergent areas contained higher richness and diversity than open areas. These data indicate that mitigation and reference wetlands generally support similar invertebrate assemblages, especially among benthic populations. The few observed differences are likely attributable to differences in vegetative community composition and structure. Mitigation wetlands currently support abundant and productive invertebrate communities, and as such, provide quality habitat for wetland dependent wildlife species, especially waterbirds and anurans.

Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICW): Ecological Development in Constructed Wetlands for Manure Treatment

“…This could be due to differences in substrate, pond depth, and vegetation. Numerous studies have observed a positive relation between macroinvertebrate diversity and aquatic vegetation (Balcombe et al 2005;Jurado et al 2009). Since the end basin was a rather deep pond with no emergent vegetation, steep edges, and only a few submersed plants and algae, macroinvertebrate diversity could be lower.…”

“…Taxa that were absent included Hirudinea and Crustacea. Hirudinea can easily be spread via birds (Davies et al 1982), and their absence might be due to relatively recent construction (see also Balcombe et al 2005 andSpieles andMitsch 2000). Crustacea occur in most fresh, brackish, and marine environments, regardless of water quality (De Pauw and Vannevel 1990).…”

Managing Wetland Habitats for Waterbirds: An International Perspective

“…Many studies have indicated that effective management plays a critical role in enhancing habitat quality of wetlands for waterbirds (e.g., Erwin 2002; Balcombe et al 2005). Over the past half century, especially the past two decades, the variables affecting habitat use by waterbirds have been intensively studied in both artificial and natural wetlands.…”

Macroinvertebrate assemblages and biodiversity levels: ecological role of constructed wetlands and artificial ponds in a natural park

“…Research on constructed wetlands has most frequently been addressed to evaluate their efficacy in pollution removal and flood mitigation, with less attention to their role as ecosystems (Mitsch et al, 1998;Spieles et al, 2006). Only a few studies (Spieles and Mitsch, 2000;Fairchild et al, 2000;Balcombe et al, 2005;Becerra-Jurado et al, 2009;Gallardo et al, 2012) have analysed the macroinvertebrate communities of constructed wetlands and the environmental factors that influence them. A deeper knowledge of the biodiversity hosted in these environments is needed to determine if artificially created ponds and constructed wetlands are also appropriate restoration tools for biological conservation (Ruhí et al, 2009).…”