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American University Thesis and Dissertation Template for PC 2016

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American University Thesis and Dissertation Template for PC 2016 © COPYRIGHT by William Farmer 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MACROINVERTEBRATE DIVERSITY AND FOOD WEB DYNAMICS OF SEEPAGE SPRING HABITATS IN THE WASHINGTON D.C. AREA BY William Farmer ABSTRACT Seepage springs are a commonly found freshwater habitat in the Washington D.C. area that are home to a variety of invertebrates including Stygobromus hayi, the only endangered species in Washington D.C. and the state amphipod, but little remains about the community structure of these habitats. We analyzed the community structure and general food web dynamics of 4 seepage springs, 1 spring, and 2 streams in the Washington D.C. area. We identified 11975 organisms of 50 unique taxa, 35 insect taxa and 15 non-insect taxa, with varying degrees of abundances from 63 samples over three seasons: Winter, Spring, and Summer. Using Jaccard’s index, it was seen that the community structure of the seepage spring environments in Great Falls, MD was similar to each other and similar over the three seasons, with an average coefficient of 0.41. While the sites were similar based on presence or absence they were each dominated by different organisms, most being either Lumbriculidae or Caecidotea kenki. Biodiversity indices of the study sites showed little to no patterns with regard to seasonal shifts or amphipod specificity. Using dual abundance stable isotope analysis of δ13C and δ15N the trophic positions of Lumbriculidae, C. kenki, Stygobromus tenuis, and Crangonyx shoemakeri were discerned, with estimates to the trophic positions of Tipula, Pseudolimnophila, and Platyhelminthes. It is still unclear exactly what S. tenuis was obtaining its energy from. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the entire Department of Biology at American University for their personal and professional support in the completion of this project and my education, and for their enthusiasm to engage students, like myself, and promote scientific research. I would like to thank my committee members for their consistent input and help, without which this project would not be of the caliber that it is. Most importantly, I would like to thank Dr. Fong for his undying support, not only for the completion of this project, but also for assisting me, and helping guide me, in my pursuit of education and professional development. His guidance and mentorship are something that I am forever grateful for, and I am very happy to have him as a mentor and a friend. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 MATERIALS AND METHODS ........................................................................................ 5 Aim 1 & 2: Community Composition and Comparisons........................................ 5 Study Sites .................................................................................................. 5 Physicochemical Measurements ............................................................... 10 Collections and Processing ....................................................................... 11 Aim 1: Community Composition.............................................................. 11 Aim 2: Community Comparisons ............................................................. 12 Aim 3: Food Web Dynamics ................................................................................ 13 Study Sites ................................................................................................ 13 Collections for Isotope Analysis ............................................................... 14 Computation of Isotope Ratio ................................................................... 15 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................... 16 Seep Parameters .................................................................................................... 16 Community Composition and Biodiversity Estimates .......................................... 19 Community Comparisons ..................................................................................... 30 Trophic Analysis ................................................................................................... 33 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 36 APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................... 41 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 55 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Study Site Characteristics. .............................................................................................. 17 Table 2: Physicochemical Parameters. ......................................................................................... 18 Table 3: Descriptive Statistics. ..................................................................................................... 23 Table 4: Heat Map of Location. .................................................................................................... 25 Table 5: Unique Taxa for Each Study Site. .................................................................................. 26 Table 6: Similarity Coefficients Between Seasons. ...................................................................... 31 Table 7: Threshold Similarity Values. .......................................................................................... 31 Table 8: Inter-Site Similarity Coefficients. ................................................................................... 32 Table 9: Biodiversity Estimates. ................................................................................................... 41 Table 10: Similarity Coefficients in Winter.................................................................................. 42 Table 11: Similarity Coefficients in Spring. ................................................................................. 43 Table 12: Similarity Coefficients in Summer. .............................................................................. 44 Table 13: Raw Isotope Values ...................................................................................................... 48 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: The General Locations of the Study Sites Relative to Washington D.C.. ...................... 7 Figure 2: The Map Above Shows the General Location of the Seepage Spring Named Pimmit Run. .................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 3: The Map Above Shows the General Locations of the Seepage Springs Located Within Great Falls Park. ................................................................................................................. 9 Figure 4: An Altered Map from Figure 3 Highlighting Each Study Site Found in the Great Falls, MD Location. ................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 5: Pie Charts Containing the Three Most Dominant Taxa Plus Everything Else for Each Site Totaled Across All Seasons. ..................................................................................... 24 Figure 6: Rank-Abundance Curves for All Study Sites and All Seasons. ................................... 27 Figure 7: Bar Charts of Simpson’s Diversity Coefficients from the Jackknifed Samples. .......... 28 Figure 8: Bar Charts of Shannon’s Diversity Coefficients from the Jackknifed Samples. .......... 29 Figure 9: Dual Abundance Isotope Signatures in Pimmit Run Seep C. ...................................... 35 Figure 10: Dual Abundance Isotope Signatures in Lower Seep. ................................................. 36 Figure 11: The δ13C and δ15N Signatures for Each Item or Organism Analyzed During the Winter Season in Pimmit Run Seep C. ............................................................................. 45 Figure 12: The δ13C and δ15N Signatures for Each Item or Organism Analyzed During the Spring Season in Pimmit Run Seep C. ............................................................................. 45 Figure 13: The δ13C and δ15N Signatures for Each Item or Organism Analyzed During the Summer Season in Pimmit Run Seep C. .......................................................................... 46 Figure 14: The δ13C and δ15N Signatures for Each Item or Organism Analyzed During the Winter Season in Lower Seep. ......................................................................................... 46 Figure 15: The δ13C and δ15N Signatures for Each Item or Organism Analyzed During the Spring Season in Lower Seep. .......................................................................................... 47 Figure 16: The δ13C and δ15N Signatures for Each Item or Organism Analyzed
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