Dispersal of adult caddisflies (Trichoptera) into forests alongside three New Zealand streams

Abstract

The abundance and taxonomic richness of adult caddisfly faunas were determined at varing distances (up to 200 m) away from three North Island, New Zealand, streams to help define appropriate forested riparian zone widths for adult aquatic insects. Adults were collected using sticky traps and ultraviolet light traps on four occasions over summer. Light traps were more effective at catching caddisflies than sticky traps, but both methods gave similar patterns of declining abundance and taxonomic richness with distance from the stream edge. Abundances of total caddisflies at 20 m were <21% of those caught at the stream edge for both trapping techniques. The same trends were evident for abundances of most common species in light traps, whereas bimodal peaks were evident with distance from the channel edge for percentage females of three common species. More than 30% of species caught at the stream edge was found in light traps at least 70 m into forest at all sites. A faster rate of decline for abundance than richness with distance away from the stream reflected the relatively large distances travelled by representatives of many species. Similar results from the three sites for numbers and species richness indicate that the main area of activity for adult Trichoptera in forested riparian zones was within 30 m of the stream edge at these sites.