2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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6/05/2017  |   3:30 PM - 3:45 PM   |  SEASONALITY OF AN AQUATIC-TERRESTRIAL LINKAGE IN A SUBTROPICAL ESTUARY   |  301A

SEASONALITY OF AN AQUATIC-TERRESTRIAL LINKAGE IN A SUBTROPICAL ESTUARY

Emergence of aquatic insects is an important mechanism of energy flow between aquatic and terrestrial habitats in freshwater systems. In estuaries, however, knowledge of the ecological role of aquatic insects is currently limited. We explored how seasonal variability in salinity and nutrient gradients are associated with community composition and availability of emergent insects to terrestrial consumers in estuarine habitats. Our study combined field surveys estimating aquatic insect emergence and riparian orb-weaving spider density with carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements to quantify this aquatic-terrestrial linkage across spatial (freshwater to marine) and seasonal (wet and dry) gradients in the Fakahatchee Strand Estuary, Florida. Aquatic insect emergence and riparian spider density varied seasonally at freshwater and mesohaline sites. Salinity was a strong predictor of aquatic insect emergence. Both salinity and season were important in explaining riparian spider density. Further analyses will examine how variability in emergent insect community composition across salinity gradients influences spider assemblages and their relative reliance on aquatic insects as nutritional subsidies. These findings provide evidence to the importance of cross-habitat connectivity in estuarine habitats.

  • C25 Food Webs
  • C11 Community Ecology
  • C28 Land-Water Interfaces

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Presenters/Authors

Xavier Zapata-Rios (), Escuela Politécnica Nacional, xavier.zapata@epn.edu.ec;


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S. Mažeika Patricio Sulliván (), The Ohio State University, sullivan.191@osu.edu;


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