Phenology and Taxonomic Composition of Lotic Chironomidae (Diptera) Communities in Contrasting Thermal Regimes
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Phenology and taxonomic composition of lotic Chironomidae (Diptera) communities in contrasting thermal regimes A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Raymond William Bouchard, Jr. IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Advisor: L.C. Ferrington, Jr. December 2007 UMI Number: 3289167 UMI Microform 3289167 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 © Raymond William Bouchard, Jr. 2007 COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Permission for CHAPTER VII, reproduced from Aquatic Insects 28: 57-66: Dear Will Bouchard, Thank you for your correspondence requesting permission to reproduce the following material from our Journal in your thesis. Bouchard, R.W., Jr., M.A. Carrillo & L.C. Ferrington, Jr, "Lower lethal temperature for adult male Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski (Diptera: Chironomidae) a winter-emerging aquatic insect" Aquatic Insects, vol. 28 (2006) 57-66. We will be pleased to grant entirely free permission on the condition that you acknowledge the original source of publication and insert a reference to the Journal’s web site: http://www.informaworld.com Thank you for your interest in our Journal. Yours sincerely Robert Blackmore Permissions Administrator (UK) Journals i Permission for CHAPTER VIII, reproduced from Hydrobiologia 568: 403-416: Dear Sir, With reference to your request (copy herewith) to reprint material on which Springer Science and Business Media controls the copyright, our permission is granted, free of charge, for the use indicated in your enquiry. This permission - allows you non-exclusive reproduction rights throughout the World. - permission includes use in an electronic form, provided that content is * password protected; * at intranet; - excludes use in any other electronic form. Should you have a specific project in mind, please reapply for permission. - requires a full credit (Springer/Kluwer Academic Publishers book/journal title, volume, year of publication, page, chapter/article title, name(s) of author(s), figure number(s), original copyright notice) to the publication in which the material was originally published, by adding: with kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media. The material can only be used for the purpose of defending your dissertation, and with a maximum of 100 extra copies in paper. Permission free of charge on this occasion does not prejudice any rights we might have to charge for reproduction of our copyrighted material in the future. Nel van der Werf Assistant Rights and Permissions/Springer ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the course of this study many people provided me with help and support. First, I must thank my advisor Len Ferrington for the help, guidance, support, and advice I have received from him over the last eight years. In addition, I thank my thesis committee, David Andow, Ralph Holzenthal, and Bruce Vondracek, for their help and useful guidance to keep me on track. I would also like to thank members of the Chironomid Research Group (CRG), whose advice and humor helped me through this process: Brenda Asmus, Giana Gelsey, Moriya Rufer, Brian Schuetz, Adam Sealock, and Claire Serieyssol. Our meetings, both in formal lab meetings and informal discussions, greatly helped me focus and improve my research. In addition, I am appreciative of help I received from other members of the University of Minnesota community including friends and colleagues within and without the Department of Entomology: Stanley Asah, Mario Carrillo, Andy Graves, Byron Karns, Steve Kells, Henrique Paprocki, and Desi Robertson. Many people outside the University have also contributed directly to this thesis and more generally to the paths that I have taken in my studies: Jon Gelhaus, Susan Gresens, Barbara Hayford, and Don Huggins. Identifications of Stempellinella were provided by Torbjørn Ekrem. Working with all of these folks has been a pleasure and I hope we are able to continue collaboration into the future. This work was partially funded by the University of Minnesota (UMN) Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, several Bell Museum of Natural History Dayton and Wilkie Fellowships, and several Chiang Student Travel Fellowships, Department of Entomology, UMN. I am also appreciative for the help and permission to sample some great streams in Minnesota. Specifically, I thank the Belwin Foundation and Janice Odegaard for the iii opportunity to work in Valley Creek. In addition, I thank Dakota County Parks and the many property owners that allowed me to sample sites on their property. Finally, but perhaps most importantly, I thank my family. My parents, Ray and Judy are responsible for my interest in aquatic systems and natural history in general. I was fortunate to have the support of my parents and brother, Durell, through my many years of study. Most of all I thank my wife Erin for supporting me through my studies as well as being willing to proofread my thesis. Of course I also have to thank Gus for letting me get work done once in a while and giving me plenty of excuses to take needed breaks. iv Raymond William Bouchard, Jr. 334 Words PHENOLOGY AND TAXONOMIC COMPOSITION OF LOTIC CHIRONOMIDAE (DIPTERA) COMMUNITIES IN CONTRASTING THERMAL REGIMES ABSTRACT Temperature is generally assumed to be the most important factor influencing aquatic insects. However, for most aquatic insect species sufficient information is not available to predict how temperature affects their life history and distribution. To improve the understanding of this relationship, the influence of temperature on the phenology, composition, and community dynamics of chironomid communities in Minnesota streams was performed followed by a detailed study on a common winter-emerging species, Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski. The phenology and composition of chironomid communities was measured using biweekly collections of surface floating pupal exuviae from six thermally stable and six thermally variable streams in east-central Minnesota. The results of this assessment indicate that chironomid taxa richness is significantly influenced by thermal variability with thermally variable streams in this region supporting many more taxa. This pattern was driven by the high summer temperatures in thermally variable streams which support a diverse fauna of warm-adapted taxa (i.e., Chironominae and Tanypodinae) that were largely excluded from more thermally stable streams. Differences in thermal preferences among congeneric taxa did not appear to increase temporal partitioning of the habitat to permit a greater number of species to coexist. These patterns indicated that temporal shifts in the community were therefore largely manifest at the subfamily or tribe level. Autecology research on D. mendotae indicated that this species is well adapted to winter activity, with a supercooling point in the adults of -21.5 °C and freeze tolerance in the larvae. Life history studies indicate that the growth of this species is largely limited to habitats with temperatures below 10 °C. In v thermally buffered streams, this species was bivoltine or multivoltine with the bulk of larval development occurring during winter. Both community-level and species-level research provides a better understanding of how temperature regulates chironomid species and communities in small streams of the upper Midwest. This knowledge is important if these aquatic communities are to be used more effectively in biological monitoring and will improve predictions of the impacts of climate change on aquatic species and communities. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS ............................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................xv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xvii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION, METHODS, AND STUDY SITE DESCRIPTIONS FOR “PHENOLOGY AND TAXONOMIC COMPOSITION OF LOTIC CHIRONOMIDAE (DIPTERA) COMMUNITIES IN CONTRASTING THERMAL REGIMES” ..........................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 STUDY SITES...............................................................................................................3 SITE DESCRIPTIONS ...................................................................................................3 METHODS ....................................................................................................................6 COLLECTION OF LAND USE/LAND COVER, SUBSTRATE, DISCHARGE, TEMPERATURE, AND WATER QUALITY DATA ......................................................................................6 SAMPLING SFPE .....................................................................................................10 LABORATORY PROCESSING .....................................................................................10