2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

5/26/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Long-term trajectories of stream insects at Hubbard Brook, NH | Virtual Platform

Long-term trajectories of stream insects at Hubbard Brook, NH

Since the passage of the 1990 amendments to the US Clean Air Act, pH has steadily increased in streams at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Average pH has increased from below 5 in the 1960s to averaging near 5.5 today. We hypothesize that this increase in pH has led to a concomitant recovery of acid sensitive stream invertebrates such as caddisflies, stoneflies and mayflies. A compilation of benthic invertebrate studies from 1968 to present revealed that there are no long-term stream data sets using consistent techniques to examine whether recovery has occurred. During this same period, researchers at Hubbard Brook deployed Malaise traps to examine the numbers of insects available as prey for birds. We examined patterns in stoneflies and caddisflies in these long-term samples from 1972-present and found little evidence of significant increases in emerged stream insects during this period. Moreover, since 2018, we have deployed emergence traps adjacent to streams at Hubbard Brook and consistently find very few mayflies. Combined, these data suggest that macroinvertebrates are not showing significant signs of recovery from acid rain, despite increases in stream pH.

Stressor
Stream
Pollution

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Presenters/Authors

Emma Rosi (), Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, rosie@caryinstitute.org;