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Seasonal abundance of aquatic diptera in two oligohaline tidal marshes in Mississippi

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Abstract

Nineteen species of Diptera (16 in each zone) from seven families were found in monthly collections (June 1979 through May 1980) in two Mississippi marsh plant zones dominated byJuncus roemerianus Scheele andSpartina cynosuroides (L.) Roth, respectively. TheJuncus zone was dominated by a species ofPalpomyia-Bezzia complex, two species ofBezzia (Ceratopogonidae),Paratendipes sp.,Limnophyes sp. (Chironomidae) andThinophilus frontalis (Dolichopodidae).Palpomyia-Bezzia sp.,Culicoides hollensis, Ormosia sp. (Tipulidae) andPelastoneurus abbreviatus (Dolichopodidae) dominated theSpartina zone. Total inset density and species richness were lowest in June and July in both zones, corresponding to a pulse of adult emergence. Overall, total density was significantly higher in theSpartina zone with mean values of 165 and 245 insects m−2 for the {Juncus} and {Spartina} zones, respectively. In addition to total density, differences in abundance were apparent for a number of species between marsh zones. Patterns could be attributed to species-specific habitat preference., predation by aquatic predators, and/or by interactions of the infauna themselves.

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  1. 250 Bazinsky Road, 39180, Vicksburg, Mississippi

    Mark W. LaSalle

  2. Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, Georgia

    T. Dale Bishop

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LaSalle, M.W., Dale Bishop, T. Seasonal abundance of aquatic diptera in two oligohaline tidal marshes in Mississippi. Estuaries 10, 303–315 (1987). https://doi.org/10.2307/1351888

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