Final Report: Inventory of Invertebrate Fauna in Devils Postpile National Monument Submitted by Jeff G Holmquist, PhD and Jutta Schmidt-Gengenbach University of California White Mountain Research Station 3000 E Line St Bishop, CA 93514 USA
[email protected] 760.387.1909 Revised, 7 Nov 2005 Submitted to: Danny Boiano, Aquatic Ecologist Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks 47050 Generals Highway Three Rivers, CA 93271 Sierra Nevada Network – Devils Postpile National Monument NRPP - Regional Small Park Block Allocation National Park Service, Pacific West Region Contract R8590030067 Funding Received: $30,000 2 Summary The Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project identified aquatic and riparian systems as the most altered and impaired habitats of the Sierra Nevada range. Devils Postpile National Monument includes many kilometers of high-elevation stream habitat and associated meadow habitat, dominated by the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. This environment is under significant pressure from intense usage. Although there has been little inventory of invertebrates in Devils Postpile, these fauna are an important group to survey because of the variety of ecosystem services that they provide. Invertebrates include primary, secondary, tertiary, and higher-level consumers, and in turn invertebrates are a critical food resource for a variety of terrestrial, aquatic, and flying species. This inventory investigated fauna throughout the riparian corridor of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. We sampled riffle and pool habitats in the river and both flooded and dry portions of meadows. We chose quantitative sampling devices for use in this inventory so that we could also report baseline ecological data. Sampling was performed over two growing seasons, from May 2003 through October 2004, from snowmelt until snowfall, and we have also included limited data collected before the start of the project, during the summer of 2002.