Research Spotlights Presentation 3_21_19.pptx

Macroinvertebrates, aquatic invertebrates visible to human eyes without a microscope, are important indicators of environmental health due to their sensitivity to ecological changes. Changes in environmental conditions can also impact human health directly (like drinking water quality) and indirectly (through bottom up impacts on aquatic food webs). While previous studies have examined macroinvertebrate populations, there is a lack of synthesis of patterns across space and time.

Thus my objective was to study drivers of changes in freshwater macroinvertebrate populations and communities on a continental scale. I examined the abundance and diversity of stream and river macroinvertebrates in the phylums Arthropoda and Annelida using publicly available datasets in the United States. I compiled and narrowed down the datasets to a total of 1498 records of macroinvertebrate density per square meter, identified to genus, from 1990 through 2018.

Using ecoinformatics methods and R statistical software, I modeled density of macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups as a function of environmental variables. These included abiotic conditions (water temperature and elevation), biotic conditions (tree canopy cover), as well as socio-ecological parameters (imperviousness and land cover). I found that while density data appeared to show few patterns with the environmental variables, the diversity data appeared to be correlated with land cover. My results will help inform conservation of US freshwater macroinvertebrates in a changing climate, thus helping better understand the health of aquatic organisms and people.