Laserfiche WebLink
<br />19951 <br /> <br />MACROINVERTEBRATES OF THE GREEN RIVER <br /> <br />219 <br /> <br />the August river channel and river backwater <br />habitats and the July wetland sample. <br />Oligochaetes were present in all habitat <br />types and on all sample dates. Densities ranged <br />from a low of 2728/m2 in the June ephemeral <br />side channel sample to a high of 164,7311m2 in <br />the July river backwater sample (Tables 2-5), <br />The lowest abundance of Ceratopogonids <br />was observed in the July river backwater sam- <br />ple (961m2). Their density was 136X greater in <br />the river channel August sample (13,026/m2; <br />Tables 2-5). Ceratopogonids were absent from <br />both June and July samples of the seasonally <br />inundated wetland and the ephemeral side <br />channel. <br />Ninteen chironomid genera were collected <br />during this study. Fourteen genera were found <br />in the July seasonally inundated wetland sam- <br />ples, and five genera occurred in the August <br />river channel and river backwater samples. <br />Seven genera occurred in only one habitat or <br />on only one date. Six genera were found in the <br />seasonally inundated wetland habitat only, and <br />four occurred only in the river channel. No chi- <br />ronomid genus was unique to the ephemeral <br />side channel or the river backwater. The genus <br />Polypedilum was collected in all habitat types <br />and on all sample dates. Total chironomid densi- <br /> <br />ties were least (903/m2) in the June sample of <br />the seasonally inundated wetland and greatest <br />(31,125/m2) in the July river backwater sample <br />(Tables 2-5). Unidentifiable early instars were <br />collected in all habitat types and in all sample <br />periods and comprised 86% of the river chan- <br />nel sample in August. The most common nmc- <br />tional group category of the Green River chi- <br />ronomids was collectors followed by predators <br />and shredders. Specific functional group and <br />Green River habitat association for each genus <br />are presented in Table 6. <br />Other insects found in the samples are list- <br />ed in Table 7. Density estimates would not be <br />valid for these taxa because of their ability to <br />avoid the core sampler. <br /> <br />Cluster Analysis <br /> <br />The UPGMA cluster analysis of the benthic <br />invertebrate communities in each habitat type <br />and sample date indicated that sites with similar <br />flow conditions tended to cluster together (Fig. <br />3). A matrix comparison of original distances <br />calculated using the Bray-Curtis coefficient <br />with distances implied from the dendrogram is <br />presented in Figure 4. Correlation between <br />the two was high (R = .907), implying that the <br />dendrogram is an accurate representation of <br /> <br /> TABLE 7, Other insects encountered iu the Green River ecosystem, June-August 1991. <br /> River Ephemeral River Seasonally inundated <br /> channel side channel backwater wetland <br /> Taxon July August June July July August June July August <br /> Coleoptera <br /> Hydrophilidae (larvae) X <br /> Diptera <br /> Chironomidae (pupae) X X X X X <br /> Empididae (larvae) X X <br /> Simuliidae (larvae) X <br />. Ephemeroptera <br />Baetidae <br /> Baetis (nymph) X X X X X <br /> Callibaetis (nymph) X <br />t Caenidae <br /> Caenis (nymph) X X X <br /> Tricorythidae <br /> Tricorythodes(nymph) X <br /> Hemiptera <br /> Corixidae X X X <br /> Odonata <br /> Coenagrionidae <br /> Ischnura (nymph) X X <br /> Gomphidae (nymph) X <br /> Plecoptera <br /> Perlodidae (nymph) <br /> Isoperla X <br />