Temporal Dynamics of Benthic Responses to Habitat Disturbance
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2016 Temporal Dynamics of Benthic Responses to Habitat Disturbance in Coastal Plain Headwaters of Southwestern Louisiana Catherine Elizabeth Murphy Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Murphy, Catherine Elizabeth, "Temporal Dynamics of Benthic Responses to Habitat Disturbance in Coastal Plain Headwaters of Southwestern Louisiana" (2016). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 4402. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/4402 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF BENTHIC RESPONSES TO HABITAT DISTURBANCE IN COASTAL PLAIN HEADWATERS OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The School of Renewable Natural Resources by Catherine Elizabeth Murphy B.S., University of Texas at Dallas, 1998 M.Ap.St., Louisiana State University, 2014 May 2017 DEDICATION I dedicate this work in loving memory of my dear friend, Ralph Anthony Decuers (1962-2011), whose optimism and humor were surpassed only by his generosity of spirit. His unique perspective and words of encouragement ushered me through so many of life’s biggest challenges, including this one. Among other things, Ralph taught me three very important life lessons: 1) family comprises more than just those to whom you are related; 2) being a New Orleans Saints fan is about way more than football; and 3) modular arithmetic is a greatly underutilized resource for organization and decision-making. Having benefitted greatly from this wisdom, I am obligated to pay it forward. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my adviser, Dr. Mike Kaller, for taking a chance on an unconventional student and allowing me the freedom and time to conduct the research that interested and motivated me. I thank my Committee members, Dr. Ken Brown, Dr. Andy Nyman, Dr. Sammy King, and Dr. Bill Kelso, for their patience, support and encouragement. I am especially grateful to Dr. Kelso for challenging me to widen the lens through which I view ecology and for helping me to focus it when my logic became fuzzy. Mr. Leonard Butter, Mrs. Hellen Hibbard and Mr. Layne Richard facilitated field collections by providing access to private property and taking time to share historical context about local natural resources. I am grateful for their stewardship and hospitality. A small army of graduate students, student workers and research associates assisted me in the lab and in the field. With professionalism and good humor, they stared for hours into pans of detritus to find bugs or waded through questionable water in less than ideal weather conditions. For their willingness to laugh with me and at me when things didn’t go my way and their ability to turn a disastrous day in the field into a hilarious story, I am deeply grateful to Michael Baker, Sarah Benson, Dr. Chris Bonvillain, Will Budnick, Brooke Constant, Kelsey Daroca, Anna Evans, Ali Fitzgerald, Eric Fontenot, Dr. Melissa Fries Gray, Raynie Harlan, Zach Herrington, Leticia Kaczmarowski, Deb Kelly, Claire Labarbera, Ryan Leeson, Tyler Loeb, Peter Markos, Kaitlyn Matherne, Kelsey McCray, Brett Miller, Devon Oliver, Tiffany Pasco, Christina Perez, Madeline Richard, Jessica Sabo, Will Sheftall, Matt Songy, Rachel Tessier, Jose Vasquez, Angela Williamson, Will Young and Sarah Zaunbrecher. I am humbled by the wisdom imparted to me by each of these researchers. I thank Tommy Blanchard for his patience, good nature and organizational skills in analyzing my water samples. Cheryl Duplechain always managed to make me smile, no matter the circumstances of my day. I owe a debt of gratitude to Deb Kelly for sharing her laboratory expertise and for rescuing me from myself on so many occasions. I am obliged to Dr. Ladorian Latin for her friendship, wit and study skills. Dr. Maureen Corcoran, Audrey Harrison and Amanda Oliver provided invaluable technical and moral support during the writing process over dinners, microscope chats, and GIS maps, respectively. Emily Hahn graciously spent hours at the microscope and always brightened my day. iii I am indebted to Dr. Jack Killgore, Dr. Jan Hoover and Dr. Neil Douglas for sparking my interest in stream ecology and encouraging me to pursue graduate education. By enthusiastically sharing their wealth of knowledge and gently pushing me outside my comfort zone, each of them helped to shape my professional career and taught me to love my work. Dr. Chris Bonvillain was instrumental in every stage of this research and patiently helped me navigate through roadblocks along the way. His optimism, work ethic, leadership and generosity have inspired me to keep going on the many occasions when I thought that I could not. I am eternally grateful to my sisters (and technical advisers), Karen Murphy and Anne- Marie Ireland, my mother, Rosemary H. Murphy, and my father, Bill Murphy, for teaching me to be resourceful and for unconditionally supporting my endeavors. My artistic directors, Mia and Abby Ireland, brightened my office and provided much needed comic relief. I hope they are inspired to dream big and keep moving forward. Finally, I thank my furry alarm clocks, Memphis and Dewey, for waking me every morning to remind me of what is really important. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION. ................................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1: SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF IN-STREAM HABITAT CONDITION WITHIN THE PLEISTOCENE TERRACES OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA, WITH COMMENTS ABOUT DROUGHT .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Study Area ............................................................................................................................ 2 Study Sites ............................................................................................................................ 4 Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Field .................................................................................................................................... 10 Laboratory ........................................................................................................................... 11 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 13 Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 20 References ...................................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2: TAXONOMIC DISTINCTNESS AND SEASONAL STABILITY OF BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES AMONG PLEISTOCENE TERRACES OF THE GULF COASTAL PLAIN OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA .............................................................................. 26 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 29 Field Methods...................................................................................................................... 30 Laboratory Methods ............................................................................................................ 32 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 36 Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 49 References ...................................................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 3: LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF CAENIS