ABSTRACT Title of Document: Local Versus Regional Processes Impacting Insect Diversity Loss from Urban Headwater Streams Robert
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: Local versus regional processes impacting insect diversity loss from urban headwater streams Robert Francis Smith Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Directed By: Associate Professor Dr. William O. Lamp Department of Entomology Watershed urbanization alters hydrologic, geomorphic, and chemical properties of stream ecosystems and decreases water and habitat quality for stream fauna. The resulting loss of insect diversity from urban streams and the mechanisms resulting from in-stream habitat degradation are well documented. In this study, I focus on how urbanized terrestrial landscapes contribute to diversity loss from stream insect communities. Characteristics of fragmented urban landscapes likely increase mortality, reduce reproduction, and block dispersal by adult stream insects, which can contribute to reduced diversity. I compared the adult caddisfly assemblage among 4 urban and 4 rural headwater streams and found no difference in abundance but lower taxa richness at urban than rural headwaters. Poor in-stream and terrestrial environmental conditions likely caused decreased adult diversity at urban headwaters. I expanded this study by comparing adult and larval assemblages residing in the same 8 headwater streams. Patterns of larval and adult taxa richness, assemblage composition, and urban landscape structure at individual streams suggested that constrained dispersal through urban landscapes (a regional process) and poor environmental conditions in the stream (a local process) both contributed to larval diversity loss from urban headwaters. I also compared flight morphological characteristics of 2 caddisfly species restricted to rural headwaters to 4 species that commonly immigrated to urban headwaters. Wing length and wing aspect ratio did not differ between these 2 groups, but species specific differences for both measures indicated that flight ability may have supported immigration to urban headwaters for certain species. Finally, I used multimodel inference testing to determine what combination of geographic distance, environmental dissimilarity, and land use between streams best explained patterns of taxonomic dissimilarity between in-stream insect communities within 4 Maryland watersheds. All three variables together, based on Euclidean geographic distance, provided the best model fit and supported the hypothesis that regional and local processes structure stream insect communities simultaneously. The overall conclusion from my work was that site specific characteristics of terrestrial urban landscapes caused species specific constraints on adult insect migration that contributed to larval diversity loss from urban streams simultaneously with poor in- stream habitat and water quality. LOCAL VERSUS REGIONAL PROCESSES IMPACTING INSECT DIVERSITY LOSS FROM URBAN HEADWATER STREAMS By Robert Francis Smith Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Advisory Committee: Professor William O. Lamp, Chair Professor Pedro Barbosa Professor Daniel S. Gruner Professor Christopher M. Swan Professor William J. Higgins, Deans Representative Dr. Michael J. Paul © Copyright by Robert Francis Smith 2012 Foreword With the recommendation of the dissertation director (William O. Lamp), and with the endorsement of the Entomology program Graduate Director (Paula M. Shrewsbury), chapter 1 of this dissertation is included as a previously published work. The citation for this publication is as follows: Smith, R.F., L.C. Alexander and W.O. Lamp. 2009. Dispersal by terrestrial stages of stream insects in urban watersheds: a synthesis of current knowledge. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28:1022-1037. As directed in the graduate catalog for chapters previously published as coauthored works, I state that I was responsible for the inception of the manuscript and the majority of the manuscript preparation. This work was reformatted to meet the requirements for dissertations, but all other aspects of the published manuscript, including the use of first person plural, were used in this document. A letter was sent to the Dean of the Graduate School certifying that inclusion of this previously published work in this dissertation has the approval of the dissertation committee, the dissertation advisor, and the Graduate Director. A copy of this letter is included in Appendix A. ii Dedication I dedicate this work to my friends and family that wished me luck at the beginning, supported me along the way, but are not here to see what their love and support allowed me to accomplish. I also dedicate this work to my parents, who have provided unwavering support of all my academic endeavours. I also dedicate this work to my daughter Elizabeth Guider Smith for whom I hope this research may play some part in conserving the natural beauty of a healthy stream ecosystem for her to enjoy with her children someday. Finally, and most importantly, I dedicate this work to my wife who has selflessly supported me during my graduate career. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life and mother to my daughter. Every success I’ve had is because of her love and support. ILYMTTSATMATSITS iii Acknowledgements I acknowledge Susan Johnson, Brice Keown, Hans Lemke, Ginny Smith, Brendan Wray, Roshan Randeniva, Kelly Maloney, Brett Kent, Jeff Shultz, Bob Denno, Galen Dively, C.J. Geraci, Dave Ruiter, Chris Patrick, Laura Craig, Debbie Finke, Jess Hines, Danny Lewis, and Greg Hess for providing field help, lab help, statistical advice, logistical support, or guidance on writing style during the preparation of this dissertation. I especially thank the past and present members of the Lamp lab - Sean McCanty, Alan Leslie, Lauren Culler, Peter Jensen, Bridget DeLay, Arnon Dayak, Susan Lombardi, Mike Anderson, The other Steve, Eastern Shore Matt, Kyle Derby, Ellie Stevens, Laurie Alexander, Libby Sancomb, Sarah Au, Dilip Venugopal, Ryan Gott, Melanie Stevens, Scott Berg, and Nick Baer - that helped with various aspects of this research, the preparation of this dissertation, and guiding me through graduate school. Alan Leslie, Conor O’Leary, Bridget DeLay, Ellie Stevens, Ryan Gott, and Dilip Venugopal provided comments that greatly improved this dissertation. Alan Leslie and Sean McCanty provided significant support of the field and lab components of this research. I also thank my dissertation committee - Pedro Barbosa, Dan Gruner, Bill Higgins, Mike Paul, and Chris Swan - for providing valuable guidance and support during the process of performing my dissertation work. This work was funded by the The Nature Conservancy (Maryland/D.C. Chapter), The Washington Biologist’s Field Club, The Cosmos Club, The North American Benthological Society, University of Maryland - College of Life Sciences, and University of Maryland - Department of Entomology. I also want to thank Capt. Kim Lloyd, Doug Redmond, Ranger Steve McCoy, Walt Brown, The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD-DNR), Maryland National-Capital Park and iv Planning Commission, and numerous private landowners for allowing me access to field sites. In addition to those mentioned above, my coauthors and I specifically acknowledge for chapter 1, Bridget Wille-DeLay, Alan Leslie, Susan Lombardi, and Lauren Culler for reviewing earlier versions of the manuscript used as the basis for this chapter. We thank Margaret Palmer, with whom we have had many discussions about the importance of understanding the natural history of adult aquatic insects in urban watersheds. We also thank 2 anonymous referees and Alison Purcell for providing comments that greatly improved the manuscript used as the basis for this chapter. Last, we thank Allison Roy, Seth Wenger, and Alison Purcell for organizing the Second Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology and providing us the opportunity to present the manuscript used as the basis for this chapter. Preparation of the manuscript used as the basis for this chapter was supported by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grant, number 2005-33522-16456. In addition to those mentioned above, I specifically acknowledge for chapter 2, Erik Pilgrim from the US EPA for performing the DNA barcoding work. This manuscript, when published, will be submitted as a co-authored, collaborative work. DNA barcoding work was done free of charge by the US EPA, and this data improved this chapter greatly. I also thank Ken Staver of the Wye Research and Education Center for performing the water chemistry work free of charge. In addition to those mentioned above, I specifically acknowledge for chapter 5, Matt Baker who provided invaluable instruction on the use of GIS for performing research on stream ecology. Dr. Baker also provided guidance during the development of v this work. I also thank Dilip Venugopal for providing guidance on programming GIS, performing the statistical analysis, and reviewing this chapter. When completed, this chapter will be published as a collaborative work with Matt and Dilip. I also thank the MD-DNR for providing the Maryland Biological Stream Survey data used in chapter 5. I also thank the University of Maryland - Department of Entomology for purchasing a software license for Arc Desktop and for purchasing a desktop computer specially designed for performing GIS analysis. Finally, I thank Greg Hess for providing much needed technical, software, and hardware support