Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Seemingly Intractable Ecological Responses of Invertebrates in North American Wetlands: A Review

  • Review
  • Published:
Wetlands Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Invertebrates play important ecological roles in wetlands, but what factors control their dynamics are poorly established. I review available research conducted in 14 areas of North America where invertebrates have received the most attention. Studies indicate that hydrology, plant factors, anthropogenic disturbance, and predation are the most important controls on wetland invertebrates, but little consensus emerged about how these factors influence invertebrate communities. Findings were often equivocal, contradictory, or inconclusive, either within or among areas. Considerable evidence indicated that wetland invertebrates are resilient, generalist organisms, and a lack of response may reflect insensitivity to environmental variation. However, numerous studies also indicated distinct responses by some invertebrates in some wetlands, although consistent patterns were often lacking. This suggests that wetland invertebrates might be very sensitive to environmental variation, but interactions can be complex and difficult to predict. Either conclusion means that generalizations about how invertebrates in wetland respond ecologically will be difficult to generate without careful study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson JT, Smith LM (2000) Invertebrate response to moist-soil management of playa wetlands. Ecological Applications 10:550–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JT, Smith LM (2004) Persistence and colonization strategies of playa wetland invertebrates. Hydrobiologia 513:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angelini C, Silliman BR (2012) Patch size-dependent recovery after massive disturbance. Ecology 93:101–110

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Battle J, Golladay SW (2001) Water quality and macroinvertebrate assemblages in three types of seasonally inundated limesink wetlands in southwest Georgia. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 16:189–207

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP (1998) Trophic interactions among detritus, benthic midges, and predatory fish in a freshwater marsh. Ecology 79:1688–1698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) (1999) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. Wiley, New York

  • Batzer DP, Palik BJ (2007) Variable response by aquatic invertebrates to experimental manipulations of leaf litter input into seasonal woodland ponds. Fundamental and Applied Limnology 168:155–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Resh VH (1991) Trophic interactions among a beetle predator, a chironomid grazer, and periphyton in a seasonal wetland. Oikos 60:251–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Resh VH (1992) Macroinvertebrates of a California seasonal wetland and responses to experimental habitat manipulations. Wetlands 12:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Wissnger SA (1996) Ecology of insect communities in non-tidal wetlands. Annual Review of Entomology 41:75–100

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, McGee M, Resh VH, Smith RR (1993) Characteristics of invertebrates consumed by mallards and prey response to wetland flooding schedules. Wetlands 13:41–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, de Szalay F, Resh VH (1997) Opportunistic response of a benthic midge (Diptera: Chironomidae) to management of California wetlands. Environmental Entomology 26:215–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Jackson CR, Mosner M (2000a) Influences of riparian logging on plants and invertebrates in small, depressional wetlands of Georgia, U.S.A. Hydrobiologia 441:123–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Pusateri CR, Vetter R (2000b) Impacts of fish predation on marsh invertebrates: direct and indirect effects. Wetlands 20:307–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, George BM, Braccia A (2005) Aquatic invertebrate responses to timber harvest in a bottomland hardwood wetland of South Carolina. Forest Science 51:284–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Day F, Golladay SW (2012) Southeastern swamp complexes. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 217–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Beganyi SR, Batzer DP (2011) Wildfire induced changes in aquatic invertebrate communities and mercury bioaccumulation in the Okefenokee swamp. Hydrobiologia 669:237–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belicka LL, Sokol ER, Hoch JM, Jaffe R, Trexler JC (2012) A molecular and stable isotopic approach to investigate algal and detrital energy pathways in a freshwater wetland. Wetlands 32:531–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benke AC (2001) Importance of flood regime to invertebrate habitat in an unregulated river-floodplain ecosystem. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 20:225–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohonak AJ, Jenkins DG (2003) Ecological and evolutionary significance of dispersal by freshwater invertebrates. Ecology Letters 6:783–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braccia A, Batzer DP (2001) Invertebrates associated with woody debris in a southeastern forested floodplain wetland. Wetlands 21:18–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braccia A, Batzer DP (2008) Breakdown and invertebrate colonization of dead wood in wetland, upland, and river habitats. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38:2697–2704

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bright EG, Batzer DP, Garnett JA (2010) Variation in invertebrate and fish communities across floodplain ecotones of the Altamaha and Savannah Rivers. Wetlands 30:1117–1128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton TM, Uzarski DG (2009) Biodiversity in protected coastal wetlands along the west coast of Lake Huron. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 12:63–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton TM, Uzarski DG, Gathman JP, Genet JA, Keas BE, Stricker CA (1999) Development of a preliminary invertebrate index of biotic integrity for Lake Huron coastal wetlands. Wetlands 19:869–882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton TM, Stricker CA, Uzarski DG (2002) Effects of plant community composition and exposure to wave action on invertebrate habitat use of Lake Huron coastal wetlands. Lakes and Reservoirs: Research and Management 7:255–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton TM, Uzarski DG, Genet JA (2004) Invertebrate habitat use in relation to fetch and plant zonation in Northern Lake Huron coastal wetlands. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 7:249–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardinale BJ, Burton TM, Brady VJ (1997) The community dynamics of epiphytic midge larvae across the pelagic-littoral interface: do animals respond to changes in the abiotic environment? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54:2314–2322

    Google Scholar 

  • Chick JH, Geddes P, Trexler JC (2008) Periphyton mat structure mediates trophic interactions in a subtropical marsh. Wetlands 28:378–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper MJ, Uzarski DG, Burton TM, Rediske RR (2006) Macroinvertebrate community composition in response to chemical/physical condition, land use and cover, and vegetation within a Lake Michigan drowned river mouth wetland. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 9:463–479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper MJ, Uzarski DG, Burton TM (2007) Macroinvertebrate community composition in relation to anthropogenic disturbance, vegetation, and organic sediment depth in four Lake Michigan drowned river-mouth wetlands. Wetlands 27:894–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper MJ, Gyekis KF, Uzarski DG (2012) Edge effects on abiotic conditions, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and larval fishes in Great Lakes fringing marshes. Journal of Great Lakes Research 38:142–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Szalay F, Cassidy W (2001) Effects of muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) lodge construction on invertebrate communities in a Great Lakes coastal wetland. American Midland Naturalist 146:300–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Szalay F, Resh VH (1997) Responses of wetland invertebrates and plants important in waterfowl diets to burning and mowing of emergent vegetation. Wetlands 17:149–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Szalay F, Resh VH (2000) Factors influencing macroinvertebrate colonization of seasonal wetlands: responses to emergent plant cover. Freshwater Biology 45:295–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Szalay F, Batzer DP, Resh VH (1996) Comparisons of mesocosm and macrocosm experiments examining the effects of mowing in emergent vegetation on wetland invertebrates. Environmental Entomology 25:303–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietz-Brantly SE, Taylor BE, Batzer DP, DeBiase AE (2002) Invertebrates that aestivate in dry basins of Carolina bay wetlands. Wetlands 22:767–775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driver EA (1977) Chironomid communities in small prairie ponds: some characteristics and controls. Freshwater Biology 7:121–133

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Entrekin SA, Golladay SW, Batzer DP (2001) The influence of plant community on chironomid secondary production in two wetland types: cypress-gum swamps and grass-sedge marshes. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 152:369–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Euliss NH Jr, Wrubleski DA, Mushet DM (1999) Wetlands of the prairie pothole region: invertebrate species composition, ecology, and management. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. Wiley, New York, pp 471–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Euliss NH Jr, LaBaugh JW, Fredrickson LH, Mushet DM, Laubhan MK, Swanson GA, Winter TC, Rosenberry DO, Nelson RD (2004) The wetland continuum: a conceptual framework for interpreting biological studies. Wetlands 24:448–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaiser EE, Trexler JC, Wetzel PR (2012) The Florida everglades. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 231–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Galatowitsch ML, Batzer DP (2011) Benefits and costs of Leptophlebia (Ephemeroptera) mayfly movements between river channels and floodplain wetlands. Canadian Journal of Zoology 89:714–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathman JP, Burton TM (2011) A Great Lakes coastal wetland invertebrate community gradient: relative influence of flooding regime and vegetation zonation. Wetlands 31:329–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geddes P, Trexler JC (2003) Uncoupling of omnivore-meditated positive and negative effects on periphyton mats. Oecologia 136:585–595

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • George BM, Batzer DP (2008) Spatial and temporal variations of mercury levels in Okefenokee invertebrates: Southeast Georgia. Environmental Pollution 152:484–490

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gladden JE, Smock LA (1990) Macroinvertebrate distribution and production on the floodplains of two lowland headwater streams. Freshwater Biology 24:533–545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golladay SW, Taylor BW, Palik BJ (1997) Invertebrate communities of forested limesink wetlands in southwest Georgia, USA: habitat use and influence of extended inundation. Wetlands 17:383–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greig HS, Wissinger SA (2010) Reinforcing abiotic and biotic constraints facilitate the broad distribution of a generalist with fixed traits. Ecology 91:836–846

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin JN, Butler J, Soomdat NN, Brun KE, Chejanovski ZA, Silliman BR (2011) Top predators suppress rather than facilitate plants in a trait-mediated tri-trophic cascade. Biology Letters 7:710–713

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hall DL, Willig MR, Moorhead DL, Sites RW, Fish EB, Mollhagen TR (2004) Aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity of playa wetlands: the role of landscape and island biogeographic characteristics. Wetlands 24:77–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hann BJ, Goldsborough LG (1997) Responses of a prairie wetland to press and pulse additions of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus: invertebrate community structure and interactions. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 140:169–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Hann BJ, Mundy CJ, Goldsborough LG (2001) Snail-periphyton interactions in a prairie lacustrine wetland. Hydrobiologia 457:167–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson MA, Riggs MR (1995) Potential effects of fish predation on wetland invertebrates: a comparison of wetlands with and without fathead minnows. Wetlands 15:167–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson MA, Palik BJ, Church JO, Miller AT (2010) Influences of upland timber harvest on aquatic invertebrate communities in seasonal ponds: efficacy of forested buffers. Wetlands Ecology and Management 18:255–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings A, Hom CL, Ellener S, Turchin P, Godfray HCJ (1993) Chaos in ecology: is Mother nature a strange attractor? Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 24:1–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Jannot JE, Wissinger SA, Lucas JR (2008) Diet and a developmental constraint alter life-history trade-offs in a caddisfly (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 95:495–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaminski RM, Prince HH (1981) Dabbling duck and aquatic macroinvertebrate responses to manipulated wetland habitat. Journal of Wildlife Management 45:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kashian DR, Burton TM (2000) A comparison of macroinvertebrates of two Great Lakes coastal wetlands: testing potential metrics for an index of ecological integrity. Journal of Great Lakes Research 26:460–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiehn WM, Morris JT (2009) Relationships between spartina alterniflora and littoraria irrorata in a south Carolina salt marsh. Wetlands 29:818–825

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King RS, Brazner JC (1999) Coastal wetland insect communities along a trophic gradient in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Wetlands 19:426–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King RS, Richardson CJ (2007) Subsidy-stress response of macroinvertebrate community biomass to a phosphorus gradient in an oligotrophic wetland ecosystem. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 26:491–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King SL, Battaglia LL, Hupp CR, Kiem RF, Lockaby BG (2012) Floodplain wetlands of the southeastern coastal plain. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 253–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkman LK, Smith LL, Golladay SW (2012a) Southeastern depressional wetlands. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 203–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkman LK, Smith LL, Quintana-Ascencio PF, Kaeser MJ, Golladay SW, Farmer AL (2012b) Is species richness congruent among taxa? Surrogacy, complementarity, and environmental correlates among three disparate taxa in geographically isolated wetlands. Ecological Indicators 18:131–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klemmer AJ, Wissinger SA, Greig HS, Ostrofsky ML (2012) Nonlinear effects of consumer density on multiple ecosystem processes. Journal of Animal Ecology 81:770–780

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kratzer EB, Batzer DP (2007) Spatial and temporal variation in aquatic macroinvertebrates in the okefenokee swamp, georgia, USA. Wetlands 27:127–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SC, Silliman BR (2006) Competitive displacemetn of a detritivorous salt marsh snail. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 339:75–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liston SE (2006) Interactions between nutrient availability and hydroperiod shape macroinvertebrate communities in Florida everglades marshes. Hydrobiologia 569:343–357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liston SE, Newman S, Trexler JC (2008) Macroinverebrate community response to eutrophication in an oligotrophic wetland: an in situ mesocoms experiment. Wetlands 28:686–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur RW, Wilson EO (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie RA, Kaster JL, Klump JV (2004) The ecological patterns of benthic inverebrates in a Great Lakes coastal wetland. Journal of Great Lakes Research 30:58–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney DL, Mort MA, Taylor BE (1990) Species richness of calanoid copepods, cladocerans, and other branchiopods in Carolina bay temporary ponds. American Midland Naturalist 123:244–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick PV, Shulford RBE, Rawlik PS (2004) Changes in macroinvertebrate community structure and function along a phosphorus gradient in the Florida everglades. Hydrobiologia 529:113–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McParland CE, Paszkowski CA (2006) Effects of small-bodied fish on invertebrate prey and foraging patterns of waterbirds in Aspen Parkland wetlands. Hydrobiologia 567:43–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merritt RW, Benbow ME, Hudson PL (2002) Wetland macroinvertebrates of Prentiss Bay, Lake Huron: diversity and functional group composition. Great Lakes Entomologist 35:149–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer CK, Whiles MR (2008) Macroinvertebrate communities in restored and natural Platter River slough wetlands. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 27:626–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moorhead DL, Hall DL, Willig MR (1998) Succession of macroinvertebrates in playas of the southern high plains, USA. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 17:430–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murkin HR, Kadlec JA (1986) Responses by benthic macroinvertebrates to prolonged flooding of marsh habitat. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64:65–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murkin HR, Ross LCM (1999) Northern prairie marshes (Delta Marsh, Manitoba). I. Macroinvertebrate responses to a simulated wet/dry cycle. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 543–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Murkin HR, Kaminski RM, Titman RD (1982) Responses by dabbling ducks and aquatic invertebrates to an experimentally manipulated cattail marsh. Canadian Journal of Zoology 60:2324–2332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murkin HR, Kadlec JA, Murkin EJ (1991) Effects of prolonged flooding on nektonic invertebrates in small diked marshes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 48:2355–2364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murkin EJ, Murkin HR, Titman RD (1992) Nektonic invertebrate abundance and distribution at the emergent vegetation-open water interface in the Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Wetlands 12:45–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murkin HR, van der Valk AG, Clark WR (eds) (2000) Prairie wetland ecology: the contribution of the marsh ecology research program. Iowa State University Press, Ames

    Google Scholar 

  • Neckles HA, Murkin HR, Cooper JA (1990) Influences of seasonal flooding on macroinvertebrate abundance in wetland habitats. Freshwater Biology 23:311–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson JW, Kadlec JA, Murkin HR (1990) Responses by macroinvertebrates to cattail litter quality and timing of litter submergence in a Northern prairie marsh. Wetlands 10:47–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opsahl SP, Golladay SW, Smith LL, Allums SE (2010) Resource-consumer relationships and baseline stable isotopic signatures of food webs in isolatred wetlands. Wetlands 30:1213–1224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palik B, Batzer DP, Buech R, Nichols D, Cease K, Egeland L, Streblow DE (2001) Seasonal pond characteristics across a chronosequence of adjacent forest ages in Northern Minnesota, U.S.A. Wetlands 21:532–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palik BJ, Buech R, Egeland L (2003) Using an ecological land hierarchy to predict seasonal-wetland abundance in upland forests. Ecological Applications 13:1153–1163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennings SC, Alber M, Alexander CR, Booth M, Burd A, Cai W, Craft C, DePratter CB, Di Iorio D, Hopkinson CS, Joye SB, Meile CD, Moore WS, Silliman B, Thompson V, Wares JP (2012) South Atlantic tidal wetlands. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 45–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Rader RB, Richardson CJ (1994) Responses of macroinvertebrates and small fish to nutrient enrichment in the Northern Everglades. Wetlands 14:134–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reese EG, Batzer DP (2007) Do invertebrate communities in floodplains change predictably along a river’s length? Freshwater Biology 52:226–239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ross LCM, Murkin HR (1993) The effect of above-normal flooding of a Northern prairie marsh on Agraylea multipunctata Curtis (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae). Journal of Freshwater Ecology 8:27–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandilands KA, Hann BJ, Goldsborough LG (2000) The impacts of nutrients and submersed macrophytes on invertebrate in a prairie wetland, Delta Marsh, Manitoba. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 148:441–459

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schalles JF, Shure DJ (1989) Hydrology, community structure, and productivity patterns of a dystrophic Carolina bay wetland. Ecological Monographs 59:365–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider DW (1999) Snowmelt ponds in Wisconsin: influence of hydroperiod on invertebrate community structure. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. Wiley, New York, pp 299–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider DW, Frost TM (1996) Habitat duration and community structure in temporary ponds. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 15:64–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider P, Sager PE (2007) Structure and ordination of epiphytic invertebrate communities of four coastal wetlands in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 33:342–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silliman BR, Bertness MD (2002) A trophic cascade regulates salt marsh primary production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99:10500–10505

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silliman BR, Newell SY (2003) Fungal farming in a snail. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100:15643–15648

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silliman BR, Zieman JC (2001) Top-down control of Spartina alterniflora production by periwinkle grazing in a Virginia salt marsh. Ecology 82:2830–2845

    Google Scholar 

  • Silliman BR, van de Koppel J, Bertness MD, Stanton LE, Mendelssohn IA (2005) Drought, snails, and large-scale die-off of southern U.S. salt marshes. Science 310:1803–1806

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silver Botts P (1999) Lake Erie Coastal wetlands: a review and case study of Presque Isle invertebrates. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 995–1012

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith LM, Haukos DA, McMurry ST (2012) High plains playas. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 299–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Smock LA, Gladden JE, Riekenberg JL Jr, Smith LC, Black CR (1992) Lotic macroinvertebrate production in three dimensions: channel surface, hyporheic, and floodplain environments. Ecology 73:876–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tangen BA, Butler MG, Ell MJ (2003) Weak correspondence between macroinvertebrate assemblages and land use in prairie pothole region wetlands, USA. Wetlands 23:104–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AN, Batzer DP (2010) Spatial and temporal variation in invertebrate consumer diets in forested and herbaceous wetlands. Hydrobiologia 651:145–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor BE, Mahoney DL (1990) Zooplankton in rainbow bay, a Carolina bay pond: population dynamics in a temporary pond. Freshwater Biology 24:597–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tronstad LM, Tronstad BP, Benke AC (2005a) Invertebrate seedbanks: rehydration of soil from an unregulated river floodplain in the south-eastern US. Freshwater Biology 50:646–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tronstad LM, Tronstad BP, Benke AC (2005b) Invertebrate responses to decreasing water levels in a subtropical river floodplain wetland. Wetlands 25:583–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uzarski DG, Burton TM, Genet JA (2004) Validation and performance of an invertebrate index of biotic integrity for Lakes Huron and Michigan fringing wetlands during a period of lake level decline. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 7:269–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uzarski DG, Burton TM, Kolar RE, Cooper MJ (2009) The ecological impacts of fragmentation and vegetation removal in Lake Huron coastal wetlands. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 12:45–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA, Skelly DK, Werner EE (1996) Mechanisms creating community structure across a freshwater habitat gradient. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 27:337–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiles MR, Goldowitz BS (2001) Hydrologic influences on insect emergence production from Central Platter River wetlands. Ecological Applications 11:1829–1842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiles MR, Goldowitz BS (2005) Macroinvertebrate communities in Central Platte River wetlands: patterns across a hydrologic gradient. Wetlands 25:462–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox DA (2012) Great Lakes coastal marshes. In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 173–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox DA, Meeker JE, Hudson PL, Armitage BJ, Black MG, Uzarski DG (2002) Hydrologic variability and the application of index of biotic integrity metrics to wetlands: a Great Lakes evaluation. Wetlands 22:588–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA, Sparks GB, Rouse GL, Brown WS, Steltzer H (1996) Intraguild predation and cannibalism among larvae of detritivorous caddisflies in subalpine wetlands. Ecology 77:2421–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA, Bohonak AJ, Whiteman HH, Brown WS (1999a) Subalpine wetlands in Colorado: habitat permanence, salamander predation, and invertebratre communities. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 757–790

    Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA, Whiteman HH, Sparks GB, Rouse GL, Brown WS (1999b) Foraging trade-offs along a predator-permanence gradient in subalpine wetlands. Ecology 80:2102–2116

    Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA, Brown WS, Jannot JE (2003) Caddisfly life histories along permanence gradients in high-altitude wetlands in Colorado (USA). Freshwater Biology 48:255–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA, Steinmetz J, Alexander JS, Brown W (2004) Larval cannibalism, time constraints, and adult fitness in caddisflies that inhabit temporary wetlands. Oecologia 138:39–47

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wissinger SA, Whissel JC, Eldermire C, Brown WS (2006) Predator defense along a permanence gradient: roles of case structure, behavior, and developmental phenology in caddisflies. Oecologia 147:667–678

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wrubleski DA (1999) Northern prairie marshes (Delta Marsh, Manitoba). II. Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to changing plant communities in newly flooded habitats. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 571–601

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrubleski DA (2005) Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to the experimental flooding of prairie marshes. Wetlands 25:200–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wrubleski DA, Rosenberg DM (1990) The Chironomidae (Diptera) of bone pile pond, Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Wetlands 10:243–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer KD, Hanson MA, Butler MG (2000) Factors influencing invertebrate communities in prairie wetlands: a multivariate approach. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57:76–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer KD, Hanson MA, Butler MG (2002) Effects of fathead minnows and restoration on prairie wetland ecosystems. Freshwater Biology 47:2071–2086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zrum L, Hann BJ, Goldsborough LG, Stern GA (2000) Effects of organophosporous insecticide and inorganic nutrients on the planktonic microinvertebrates and algae in a prairie wetland. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 147:373–399

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Darold P. Batzer

Authors
  1. Darold P. Batzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Darold P. Batzer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Batzer, D.P. The Seemingly Intractable Ecological Responses of Invertebrates in North American Wetlands: A Review. Wetlands 33, 1–15 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-012-0360-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-012-0360-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation