Abstract
Invertebrates are often used as indicators of wetland health and habitat quality for species such as waterbirds. However, the sampling method may influence the characterization of wetland invertebrate populations. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two sampling methods, the aquatic D-frame net and Quadrat-Column-Core (QCC) method, in determining invertebrate population metrics in vegetated depressional wetlands of north central Oklahoma. As compared to the D-frame net, use of the QCC method resulted in higher estimates of both total microcrustacean and nonmicrocrustacean density and biomass. Additionally, the QCC method had higher estimates of density and biomass for seven of the eight functional feeding groups and nearly half of the 49 taxa collected from the wetlands. The D-frame net method produced higher estimates of taxa richness and the Shannon index as well as higher densities and biomasses than the QCC method for five taxa. Overall, invertebrate community structure was different between the two sampling methods. In light of differences in the metrics determined for the two sampling methods, the ultimate choice of a sampling method for wetland invertebrates should be based on study objectives.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson JT, Smith LM (1996) A comparison of methods for sampling epiphytic and nektonic aquatic invertebrates in playa wetlands. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 11:219–224
Anderson JT, Smith LM (1998) Protein and energy production in playas: implications for migratory bird management. Wetlands 18:437–446
Anderson JT, Smith LM (2000) Invertebrate response to moist-soil management of playa wetlands. Ecological Applications 10:550–558
Anteau MJ, Afton AD, Anteau ACE, Moser EB (2011) Fish and land use influence Gammarus lacustris and Hyalella azteca (Amphipoda) densities in large wetlands across the upper Midwest. Hyrdobiologia 664:69–80
Baldassarre GA, Bolen EG (2006) Waterfowl ecology and management, 2nd edn. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar
Batzer DP, Shurtleff AS, Rader RB (2001) Sampling invertebrates in wetlands. In: Rader RB, Batzer DP, Wissinger SA (eds) Bioassessment and management of North American freshwater wetlands. Wiley, New York, pp 339–354
Batzer DP, Palik BJ, Buech R (2004) Relationships between environmental characteristics and macroinvertebrate communities in seasonal woodland ponds of Minnesota. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 23:50–68
Brinkman MA, Duffy WG (1996) Evaluation of four wetland aquatic invertebrate samplers and four sample sorting methods. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 11:193–200
Brinson MM (1993) A Hydrogeomorphic classification for wetlands. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC
Cheal F, Davis JA, Growns JE, Bradley JS, Whittles FH (1993) The influence of sampling method on the classification of wetland macroinvertebrate communities. Hydrobiologia 257:47–56
Cowardin LM, Carter V, Colet FC, LaRoe ET (1979) Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC
Davis CA, Bidwell JR (2008) Response to aquatic invertebrates to vegetation management and agriculture. Wetlands 28:793–805
DeCoster W, Persoone G (1970) Ecological study of gastropoda in a swamp in the neighborhood of Ghent (Belgium). Hydrobiologia 36:65–80
Downing JA, Cyr H (1985) Quantitative estimation of epiphytic invertebrate populations. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42:1570–1579
Doxon ED, Davis CA, Fuhlendorf SD (2011) Comparison of two methods for sampling invertebrates: vacuum and sweep-net sampling. Journal of Field Ornithology 82:60–67
Genet J (2012) Status and trends of wetlands in Minnesota: depressional wetland quality baseline. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul
Hall DL, Willig MR, Moorhead DL, Sites RB, Fish EB, Mollhagen TR (2004) Aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity of playa wetlands: the role of landscape and island biogeographic characteristics. Wetlands 24:77–91
Henley JE, Harrison MS (2000) The Oklahoma wetlands reference guide. Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Oklahoma City
Hyvönen T, Nummi P (2000) Activity traps and the corer: complimentary methods for sampling aquatic invertebrates. Hydrobiologia 432:121–125
Kostecke RM, Smith LM, Hands HM (2005) Macroinvertebrate response to cattail management at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas, USA. Wetlands 25:758–763
Merritt RW, Cummins KW, Berg MB (2008) An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America, 4th edn. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque
Meyer MD (2012) Wetland invertebrate community response to land-use and other local and landscape factors. MS Thesis, Oklahoma State University
Meyer CK, Peterson SD, Whiles MR (2011) Quantitative assessment of yield, precision, and cost-effectiveness of three wetland invertebrate sampling techniques. Wetlands 31:101–112
Murkin HR, Abbot PG, Kadlec JA (1983) A comparison of activity traps and sweep nets for sampling nektonic invertebrates in wetlands. Freshwater Invertebrate Biology 2:99–106
Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database for Oklahoma. Available via. http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov. Accessed 1 December 2008
Oklahoma Climatological Survey (2005) County climatologies. Available via. http://climate.mesonet.org/county_climate. Accessed 22 March 2009
Oksanen, J, Blanchette FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara, Simpson G, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2013) Vegan: community ecology package. R package version 2.0-7. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan
Olson EJ, Engstrom ES, Doeringsfeld MR, Bellig R (1995) Abundance and distribution of macroinvertebrates in relation to macrophyte communities in a prairie marsh, Swan Lake, Minnesota. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 10:325–335
Quinn GP, Keough MJ (2002) Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Silver CA, Vamosi SM (2012) Macroinvertebrate community composition of temporary prairie wetlands: a preliminary test of the effect of rotational grazing. Wetlands 32:185–197
Skagen SK, Oman HD (1996) Dietary flexibility of shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere. Canadian Field Naturalist 110:419–444
Smith DG (2001) Pennak’s freshwater invertebrates of the United States, 4th edn. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York
Swanson GA (1978) A water column sampler for invertebrates in shallow wetlands. Journal of Wildlife Management 42:670–672
Swanson GA (1983) Benthic sampling for waterfowl foods in emergent vegetation. Journal of Wildlife Management 47:821–823
Thorp JH, Covich AP (2010) Ecology and classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, 3rd edn. Academic Press, San Diego
Turner AM, Trexler JC (1997) Sampling aquatic invertebrates from marshes: evaluating the options. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16:694–709
Voigts DK (1976) Invertebrate abundance in relation to changing marsh vegetation. American Midland Naturalist 95:313–322
Wissinger SA (1999) Ecology of wetland invertebrates: synthesis and applications for conservation and management. In: Batzer DP, Bader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York, pp 1043–1086
Acknowledgments
Naomi Cooper, Chad Ensign, Roseanne Kuzmic, Diana Neumeyer, and Alaina Thomas provided assistance in the lab. Brady Allred assisted with conducting the ordination analyses. We also thank Sam Fuhlendorf for providing input during the project. We are indebted to the numerous landowners who allowed us repeated access to wetlands.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meyer, M.D., Davis, C.A. & Bidwell, J.R. Assessment of Two Methods for Sampling Invertebrates in Shallow Vegetated Wetlands. Wetlands 33, 1063–1073 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0462-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0462-5