2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/22/2018 | 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM | HABITAT STRUCTURE, HYDROPERIOD, AND TROPHIC COMPLEXITY OF PLAYA WETLANDS: A MESCOSM EXPERIMENT | 430 B
HABITAT STRUCTURE, HYDROPERIOD, AND TROPHIC COMPLEXITY OF PLAYA WETLANDS: A MESCOSM EXPERIMENT
Ephemeral ecosystems fundamentally change throughout their hydroperiod which can subsequently change the food web. Direct experimentation in mesocosms allows exploration of how habitat structure, hydroperiod, and community assemblages all interact in the food web.
Mesocosms were “seeded” with ephemeral wetland sediment and allowed to colonize throughout subsequent hydroperiods. Our experiment had two treatments: (1) a control group with sediment and water; and (2) and an enhanced habitat complexity group (plastic plants). Invertebrate community diversity and aspects of the trophic structure (size, redundancy, and variability) were tracked through the hydroperiod. Trophic structure metrics were measured using geometric properties of stable isotope (C13 and N15) biplots.
Mesocosms generally gained species through time. The mesocosms with added habitat structure showed consistently more diversity, but were not significantly different. Trophic structure was more closely associated with insect diversity. Trophic structure was also more complex in mesocosms with more total, insect, and predator diversity.
Structures that increases the hydroperiod, such as irregularities or deeper depressions in a playa floor, may impact playa invertebrates. Food web complexity is not simply associated with species richness numbers, but rather the characteristics of the individual taxa.
- Diet
- Isotope
- Wetland
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Presenters/Authors
Brian O'Neill
(), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, oneillb@uww.edu;
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James H. Thorp
(), University of Kansas/Kansas Biological Survey, thorp@ku.edu;
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