CAN THE ONE TRUE BUG BE THE ONE TRUE ANSWER? THE INFLUENCE OF PRAIRIE RESTORATION ON HEMIPTERA COMPOSITION Thesis Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Science in Biology By Stephanie Kay Gunter, B.A. Dayton, Ohio August 2021 CAN THE ONE TRUE BUG BE THE ONE TRUE ANSWER? THE INFLUENCE OF PRAIRIE RESTORATION ON HEMIPTERA COMPOSITION Name: Gunter, Stephanie Kay APPROVED BY: Chelse M. Prather, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor Associate Professor Department of Biology Ryan W. McEwan, Ph.D. Committee Member Associate Professor Department of Biology Mark G. Nielsen Ph.D. Committee Member Associate Professor Department of Biology ii © Copyright by Stephanie Kay Gunter All rights reserved 2021 iii ABSTRACT CAN THE ONE TRUE BUG BE THE ONE TRUE ANSWER? THE INFLUENCE OF PRAIRIE RESTORATION ON HEMIPTERA COMPOSITION Name: Gunter, Stephanie Kay University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. Chelse M. Prather Ohio historically hosted a patchwork of tallgrass prairies, which provided habitat for native species and prevented erosion. As these vulnerable habitats have declined in the last 200 years due to increased human land use, restorations of these ecosystems have increased, and it is important to evaluate their success. The Hemiptera (true bugs) are an abundant and varied order of insects including leafhoppers, aphids, cicadas, stink bugs, and more. They play important roles in grassland ecosystems, feeding on plant sap and providing prey to predators. Hemipteran abundance and composition can respond to grassland restorations, age of restoration, and size and isolation of habitat. I investigated the effects of these variables on the abundance and composition of Hemiptera within 13 Ohio prairies in order to answer 4 questions regarding prairie restoration: Do older constructed prairies resemble remnant prairies in hemipteran abundance, diversity, and composition more than they resemble newer constructed prairies? Does the size of a prairie fragment affect the abundance, diversity, and composition of Hemiptera? Does the distance of a prairie to an agricultural field affect the abundance, diversity, and composition of Hemiptera? Do any hemipteran morphospecies indicate particular prairie types? Insect samples were taken via sweep net from 13 prairies (6 remnant, 4 old iv constructed, 3 new constructed) in 4 southwestern Ohio counties in summer 2019, and were sorted to order. I then sorted hemipterans to family and morphospecies, and analyzed their abundance and composition. I found no significant difference in hemipteran abundance or number of families/morphospecies between remnant, old constructed, and new constructed prairies in summer 2019. However, in July 2019, remnant prairies had a significantly higher hemipteran diversity than old and new constructed prairies. In August 2019, NMDS ordination showed that hemipteran morphospecies composition in new constructed prairies diverged from remnant and old constructed prairies. These results suggest that while the hemipteran community is largely similar across remnant and constructed prairies in this system early in the summer, the communities begin to diverge as the growing season progresses. Additionally, in June 2019, two morphospecies (Miridae: Lygus lineolaris and Psyllidae: Craspedolepta sp.) had a significant negative relationship with age of constructed prairie, and another morphospecies, Membracidae: Micrutalis calva was an indicator of remnant prairies. Finally, in July 2019, the family Membracidae increased in abundance as distance to agriculture increased. The relationships seen within these hemipteran families suggest that constructed prairies may need more maintenance over time to better replicate the conditions of remnant prairies, and that close proximity to agriculture may be limiting the potential of all prairies in this region. v To my parents, especially to my mother, who could not be here to see this. As I sit here deciding what to write, she would tell me “three, two, one, decide!” vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to give a special thanks first and foremost to my advisor, Chelse Prather, for her patience and guidance these past couple years. Thank you for giving me a chance, helping me to become a better researcher, and encouraging me to try my own way of doing things! Thank you also to my committee members Ryan McEwan and Mark Nielsen for their feedback and support! I would also like to thank the UD Biology Department, for providing support for graduate students during this unusual year. Thanks to the efforts of those in charge of our department, we were able to continue our research and stay on as TAs even as the campus shut down. Thanks to the undergraduate members of the Insect Ecology Lab, for their tireless efforts helping to collect and sort insects! Also, thank you to my fellow graduate students in the lab, for their advice and good company- especially to Amanda Finke for providing a lot of help with R! Thank you to the land managers who maintain the prairies that were used in this study for allowing us to sample there. And, thank you to the countless insects who were used in this experiment- many people do not realize how beautiful they are when viewed up close. Finally, thank you to my friends and family, for always being there for me. My dad has been a great source of support always, and my mom would have been, too. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………...iv DEDICATION………………………………………………………………………...vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………vii LIST OF FIGURES..……………………………………………………………...…..ix LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………….......xi INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………...1 METHODS…………………………………………………………………………......5 RESULTS…………………………………………………………………………........8 DISCUSSION………………………………………………………………………....10 FIGURES.…………………………………………………………………….…….…19 TABLES ………………………………………………………………………….…..36 REFERENCES..……………………………………………………………………....41 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Representative images of the three prairie types used in this study…………...19 Figure 2. Box and whisker plots showing the total Hemiptera sampled at each prairie type in each month of summer 2019…………..……………………20 Figure 3. Box and whisker plots showing the number of hemipteran families sampled at each prairie type in each month of summer 2019…………..21 Figure 4. Box and whisker plots showing the number of hemipteran morphospecies sampled at each prairie type in each month of summer 2019..…………………..22 Figure 5. Linear models showing the relationship between total Hemiptera and age of constructed prairie in each month of summer 2019..……………...…23 Figure 6. Linear models showing the relationship between number of hemipteran families and age of constructed prairie in each month of summer 2019……………………………………………………………………………....24 Figure 7. Linear models showing the relationship between number of hemipteran morphospecies and age of constructed prairie in each month of summer 2019…25 Figure 8. Linear models showing the relationship between Simpson’s Diversity Index and age of constructed prairie in each month of summer 2019…..........….26 Figure 9. Box and whisker plots showing the abundance of Psyllidae (jumping plant lice) across the 3 prairie types in June 2019.…...………………..27 Figure 10. Linear model showing the relationship between the abundance of 2 hemipteran families and age of constructed prairie in June 2019..…....……28 ix Figure 11. Linear model showing the relationship between the abundance of 2 hemipteran morphospecies and age of constructed prairie in June 2019.......29 Figure 12. Box and whisker plots showing the difference in abundance of 2 hemipteran morphospecies between the 3 prairie types in June 2019....….......…30 Figure 13. Box and whisker plot showing the difference in Simpson’s Diversity Index between the three prairie types in July 2019.....…...……..……………..…31 Figure 14. NMDS showing the composition of 21 abundant hemipteran morphospecies (those that make up >1% of the entire dataset) in June 2019.......32 Figure 15. NMDS showing the composition of 21 abundant hemipteran morphospecies (those that make up >1% of the entire dataset) in July 2019........33 Figure 16. NMDS showing the composition of 21 abundant hemipteran morphospecies (those that make up >1% of the entire dataset) in August 2019...34 Figure 17. Linear model showing the relationship between the abundance of Membracidae and distance to agriculture July 2019......……...……………….…35 x LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Information about all prairies sampled in this study………………………...….36 Table 2. Total specimens collected of each Hemiptera family in summer 2019………...37 Table 3. Table showing results of linear regressions on the relationship between size of prairie and total Hemiptera and number of families…………....38 Table 4. Table showing results of linear regressions on the relationship between distance of prairie to agriculture and total Hemiptera and number of families…….……………………………………………………………………..39 Table 5. Table showing indicator analysis output for Micrutalis calva in July 2019…....40 xi INTRODUCTION The composition and distribution of ecosystems worldwide have changed dramatically in the last few centuries, as humans have converted an increasing amount of natural land for our purposes. Nearly all of Earth’s biomes have been severely affected by human activity, and temperate grasslands are among those most degraded (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). The tallgrass prairie was historically one of the major biomes in the U.S., spanning