An Aquatic Invertebrate Survey for the Congaree Swamp National Park, Richland County, South Carolina
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AN AQUATIC INVERTEBRATE SURVEY FOR THE CONGAREE SWAMP NATIONAL PARK, RICHLAND COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA M. L. PESCADOR, B. A. RICHARD, AND A. K. RASMUSSEN Entomology/Center for Water Quality Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL 32307-4100 AN INVERTEBRATE SURVEY FOR CONGAREE SWAMP NATIONAL PARK CESU Partner Cooperative Agreement Number w/Florida A&M University: HR000 01 0593 Task Order Number One (1): J5240 01 0555 Modification No. 1 Prepared for Congaree Swamp National Park 100 National Park Rd., Hopkins, South Carolina 29061 by Manuel L. Pescador Barton A. Richard and Andrew K. Rasmussen Entomology/Center for Water Quality Division of Agricultural Sciences Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL 32307-4100 Theresa Yednock, Acting Resource Manager Congaree Swamp National Park March 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………... 2 II. OBJECTIVES……………………………………………………………………. 4 III. MATERIALS AND METHODS………………………………………………... 5 A. Sampling Sites……………………………………………………………. 5 B. Sampling Methods………………………………………………………... 5 C. Preservation and Deposition of Specimens……………………………... 7 D. Identification of Specimens……………………………………………… 7 E. Data Analysis……………………………………………………………... 8 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………………………. 9 V. REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………... 17 VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….. 19 VII. LITERATURE CITED…………………………………………………………. 20 VIII. FIGURES………………………………………………………………………... 23 IX. TABLES…………………………………………………………………………. 33 X. APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………… 50 - 1 - I. INTRODUCTION Congaree Swamp National Park, a 22,200 acre forested wetland, is home to champion trees, primeval forest landscapes and highly diverse plants and animals. The park preserves a large undisturbed natural area with internationally significant recreational and ecological resources. The ecological integrity of the park is largely dependent upon the quality of the water that enters it. The Congaree River, serving as the southern border, annually inundates most of the park, low-lying areas remain flooded for about 25 percent of the year (Patterson et al., 1985). Pesticides, herbicides and nutrients carried into the park from human land-use areas adjacent to the Congaree River (and tributaries) pose a serious threat to the health of the park’s ecosystem. Biomonitoring is a well-recognized method of water quality assessment, effectively complementing physico-chemical measures. It uses a systematic approach that quantifies responses of organisms to changes in the environment. Of the biological organisms currently in use as indicators of changing water quality, benthic macroinvertebrates, mainly insects, have been used extensively in assessing water quality in streams (Rosenberg and Resh 1993, Merritt and Cummins 1996). These organisms are good indicators of change in riparian systems for a number of reasons: • They are relatively sedentary, enabling detection of localized problems • They exhibit a wide range of tolerances to contamination and habitat alteration • They have relatively long life cycles compared to other groups such as algae, fungi, and protozoa enabling long term analyses and continuous monitoring • They are ubiquitous, enabling assessment of a variety of habitats over large and small scales - 2 - • The taxonomy of most groups is fairly well known, and identification keys are widely available. Major aquatic macroinvertebrate studies conducted at the Congaree Swamp National Park have included those of Smock and Gilinsky (1982), Smock et al. (1985) and Maluk and Abrahamsen (1999). Smock et al. (1985) is a study of macroinvertebrate production based on data from the Smock and Gilinsky (1982) project report on their study conducted in 1980-81 at the park titled “Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities of a Floodplain Creek in the Congaree Swamp Monument”. This quantitative study was performed entirely on Cedar Creek, a major floodplain creek flowing through the park and found the waters of the creek to be relatively clean. The 1982 report identified several macroinvertebrate taxa, some of which are not listed in the 1985 production paper. A more recent study of the macroinvertebrate community structure of streams that flow into and within the park likewise indicated the quality of the water to be mostly non- impaired (Maluk and Abrahamsen, 1999). Ideally, water quality assessments examining ecosystem health require a study of the entire insect community. As this is obviously impractical considering the enormously high diversity and abundance of these organisms, researchers typically focus on particular groups of insects that provide good results and accomplish the project in a timely and cost effective manner. The insect groups chosen for this study included the aquatic beetles (Coleoptera), dragonflies (Odonata), mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera) and caddisflies (Trichoptera). In fact, the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera, collectively referred to as “EPT” taxa have long been considered especially sensitive to pollution and disturbance. Monitoring groups throughout the United States - 3 - and other developed countries have often adopted EPT (Ephemeroptera + Plecoptera + Trichoptera) taxa richness as a useful measure of stream quality. This measure is a vital component of the U.S. EPA’s rapid bioassessment protocols. The EPT metric is easy to use, stable at reference sites and effectively tracks changes in water quality in most instances. EPT taxa richness is the single most reliable metric used by the North Carolina water quality biomonitoring program (Lenat and Barbour, 1993). II. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the study were: 1. To conduct a one year survey of the mayfly (Ephemeroptera), stonefly (Plecoptera), caddisfly (Trichoptera), aquatic beetle (Coleoptera) and dragonfly (Odonata) fauna of Congaree Swamp National Park. 2. To investigate taxa richness for the streams sampled. 3. To generate species checklists of these taxa in the park. 4. To assemble a permanent collection of insects and link this to a public information display with voucher specimens to be deposited at Congaree Swamp National Park, Clemson University, Florida A&M University, and Furman University. 5. To create a database of specimen collections with locality data and to provide a copy to the Congaree Swamp National Park. The available data will provide a general overview of the diversity of the above mentioned insect groups as well as a general assessment of the relative water quality of the streams and lakes of the park. - 4 - III. MATERIALS AND METHODS A. Sampling Sites The study was conducted mostly within the geographic confines of the Congaree Swamp National Park over a one year span in 2002-2003. The park is located about 32 kilometers southeast of Columbia, South Carolina, and is bounded on the south and west by the Congaree River. Ten sampling sites (Fig. 1, Table 1) were established for intensive benthic collecting. In consultation with the park staff, these sites were chosen by examining drainages, topographic maps, a GIS database, habitat types and accessibility. Eight of the ten sites are located in the floodplain streams and the remaining two sites are in lakes. These floodplain streams are a major source of water to the park, except during major storm events when the Congaree River floods its banks. In addition to the ten sites, other locations within the park were sampled by Janet & Alex Ciegler (Columbia, South Carolina), and Wade Worthen (Furman University) primarily to collect aquatic beetles, and damselflies and dragonflies, respectively, thus significantly adding more coverage area for the survey. B. Sampling Methods 1. Benthic samples. Approximately six-man hours of benthic sampling were spent at each site per collecting period. Standard aquatic dip net (D-Frame, 600 micron Nitex bag) and kick net/ hand screen (meter square, 600 micron mesh) were the methods of choice to collect benthic samples for this study. These techniques allowed us to qualitatively sample a variety of habitats including but not limited to leaf packs, submerged logs/snags, root mats, macrophytes, and detritus and mineral substrates. Benthic sampling consisted of several dip net sweeps from representative habitats over a - 5 - 100 meter stream reach at each sampling site. Hand screen collecting was used in accessible midstream sections where gravel or snags were the dominant substrates. Net samples were put in white sorting pans and specimens were field-picked, and put in 125 ml (4 oz.) Nalgene plastic bottles with 80% ETOH. Snag collecting was also used to complement the dip net and hand screen sampling. Additionally, underwater baited traps, primarily to collect beetle specimens were used by Jan and Alex Ciegler, and kick-seine and sediment scoop were used by Wade Worthen to collect damselfly and dragonfly larvae. We conducted three separate 4-day benthic sampling efforts at the 10 established sampling sites. The first sampling was carried out in March 2002. The second and third were in June 2002 and January 2003. Additionally, bi-weekly collecting from March 2002 to September 2002, and February 2002 to October 2002 was carried out by Jan and Alex Ciegler, and Wade Worthen, respectively. 2. Adult Samples. Adults were mainly collected using portable UV light traps. Light trapping is useful for collecting not only a wide array of insect species but especially for hard-to-find species, and serves as a check on how thorough in-stream collecting has been. Light traps each consisted of a light weight, sealed 15-watt UV-