Effects of sediment load on emergence of aquatic invertebrates and plants from wetland soil egg and seed banks

Abstract

Intensive agricultural activities near prairie wetlands may result in excessive sediment loads, which may bury seed and invertebrate egg banks that are important for maintenance and cycling of biotic communities during wet/dry cycles. We evaluated effects of sediment burial on emergence of plants and invertebrates from seed and invertebrate egg banks. Sediment-load experiments indicated that burial depths of 0.5 cm caused a 91.7% reduction in total seedling emergence and a 99.7% reduction in total invertebrate emergence. Results of our burial experiments corroborated prior research on seedling emergence. However, our study demonstrated that invertebrate emergence is also highly susceptible to the effects of burial. Our research suggests that sediment entering wetlands from agricultural erosion may also hamper successional changes throughout interannual climate cycles. Land-management strategies need to be implemented that will prevent erosion of cropland top soil from entering wetlands.

Differential effects of age-structured common carp (Cyprinus carpio) stocks on pond invertebrate communities: implications for recreational and wildlife use of farm ponds

“…These effects may be stronger in the presence of larger carp, which are capable of penetrating deeper in a substratum than smaller fish (Panek 1987), and more intense in summer when carp take mainly benthic prey. Carp bioturbation is vital to the persistence of aquatic communities, since elevated sediment concentrations can smother invertebrate eggs, suffocate fish embryos and potentially reduce the respiratory capabilities of amphibian larvae by fouling their gills (deMaynadier and Hunter 1995;Belsky et al 1999;Gleason et al 2003). Moreover, benthivorous fish expel large quantities of nutrients into the water column, thus enhancing phytoplankton production (Andersson et al 1988;Qin and Threlkeld 1990;Matsuzaki et al 2007).…”

The Challenges of Remote Monitoring of Wetlands

“…Climatic oscillatory fluctuations in water levels can be relatively frequent in some regions (e.g., see [30]) and favor the establishment of different species in different years, as fed by the local seed bank stored from past climate cycles [31]. Land cover, use, and management in the contributing watershed further influence amount and quality of wetland water and type of aquatic vegetation [10,[32][33][34][35][36]. Runoff from surrounding uplands can alter water clarity or color (e.g., [37,38]) through delivery of sediments or a variety of nutrients and chemicals that affect growth of wetland biota (e.g., [39]).…”

Sample Size Requirements for Estimating Species Richness of Aquatic Vegetation in Iowa Lakes

“…A number of environmental changes were hypothesized to be responsible for the observed changes, including stabilization of water levels, increased sediment and nutrient loading, and shoreline development. Similar mechanisms have been implicated for the decline of aquatic plants throughout North America (e.g., Gleick 1998, Gleason et al 2003. In addition to these changes, invasive species are thought to be an important cause for the decline of native species in Iowa lakes (Phillips 1998).…”

“…Similarly, star duckweed and narrowleaf arrowhead were only observed in impoundments, and Eurasian watermilfoil was only found in impoundments and surface mines. These same species are common in natural lakes in other portions of their distribution (Moyle 1945, Beal and Thieret 1986, Nichols and Shaw 1986, Gleason et al 2003 and Eurasian watermilfoil is present in at least one natural lake and one oxbow lake in Iowa (Phillips 2001). Many of the distributional patterns associated with one of the categories may also be confounded with one or both of the other categories.…”

“…For example, nanowleaf arrowhead and Small's spikerush were only found in the southern two-thirds of Iowa, but both species are commonly found at much higher latitudes (e.g., Moyle 1945, Gleason et al 2003. Similarly, star duckweed and narrowleaf arrowhead were only observed in impoundments, and Eurasian watermilfoil was only found in impoundments and surface mines.…”