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Emerging dragonfly diversity at small Rhode Island (U.S.A.) wetlands along an urbanization gradient

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Abstract

Natal habitat use by dragonflies was assessed on an urban to rural land-use gradient at a set of 21 wetlands, during two emergence seasons (2004, 2005). The wetlands were characterized for urbanization level by using the first factor from a principal components analysis combining chloride concentration in the wetland and percent forest in the surrounding buffer zone. Measurements of species diversity and its components (species richness and evenness) were analyzed and compared along the urbanization gradient, as were distributions of individual species. Dragonfly diversity, species richness, and evenness did not change along the urbanization gradient, so urban wetlands served as natal habitat for numerous dragonfly species. However, several individual species displayed strong relationships to the degree of urbanization, and most were more commonly found at urban sites and at sites with fish. In contrast, relatively rare species were generally found at the rural end of the gradient. These results suggest that urban wetlands can play important roles as dragonfly habitat and in dragonfly conservation efforts, but that conservation of rural wetlands is also important for some dragonfly species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ryan Abney and Megan Priede for assistance with field work, and the URI Coastal Fellows program for funding their work. Art Gold, Kelly Addy, and Linda Green provided guidance on water quality analyses. Peter August performed the spatial autocorrelation analysis. Mary-Jane James-Pirri assisted with formatting Fig. 1. We thank Peter August, Eric Biber, Sam Droege, Patrick Logan, Nancy McIntyre and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on early drafts of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology, Woodward Hall, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA

    Maria A. Aliberti Lubertazzi & Howard S. Ginsberg

  2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Coastal Field Station, Woodward-PLS, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA

    Howard S. Ginsberg

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  1. Maria A. Aliberti Lubertazzi
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  2. Howard S. Ginsberg
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Correspondence to Maria A. Aliberti Lubertazzi.

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Aliberti Lubertazzi, M.A., Ginsberg, H.S. Emerging dragonfly diversity at small Rhode Island (U.S.A.) wetlands along an urbanization gradient. Urban Ecosyst 13, 517–533 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-010-0133-8

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