Stream Invertebrates
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THE FACTS Not all the fauna of the streams on Konza Prairie are as easy to see as this damselfly. Kings Creek on Konza Prairie offers an interesting look at the diversity of organisms found in tallgrass prairie streams. About 200 species of aquatic macroinvertebrates have been recorded on Konza Prairie by LTER researchers. Many of these invertebrates haven't been identified completely. Some of the known insects found are: mayflies |
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| Over half of the known groups found are midges. Some non-insect invertebrates include: | ||
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small
oligochaetes
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| The location of stream invertebrate communities may vary between gallery forest and reaches of King's Creek. Other factors that may affect the dispersion of stream invertebrates are patterns of stream-flow and water temperature. Floods also affect stream invertebrate populations by washing out enough of the creek bottom to reduce the numbers of invertebrates that can be found by 95%. | ||
| The invertebrates collected from the streams live in the water and the substrate of the stream bottom. These macroinvertebrates are an important part of the stream food web and can act as biological indicators for ecologists. Stream invertebrates are useful biological indicators because they react to pollutants in the water over time. Not only can they indicate that current water conditions are poor, but also that water quality conditions over recent weeks or months are not acceptable. The data collected indicate if the streams are ecologically healthy. For example, an abundance of oligocheates and midge larvae indicates a high level of unwanted pollutants in the water. On the other hand, a healthy stream will have numerous mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies. |
LONG-TERM INVENTORIES OF KONZA STREAM INVERTEBRATES
Researchers maintain a long-term inventory of diversity and abundance of stream invertebrates along reaches of King's Creek on Konza Prairie. Student collections will benefit the LTER researchers by archiving these aquatic insects in a quantitative measure that will aid them in their work.
http://www.konza.ksu.edu/data_catalog/flora_fauna/macro.html
Students use Surber bottom samplers to collect stream invertebrates from selected areas along Kings Creek. Samples will be examined on white- bottomed trays used to carefully separate and identify the specimens. This process is called "picking". Using forceps and plastic pipettes to pick all aquatic invertebrates, any collected insects will be placed in vials and labeled for date, location, and collector. These specimens will be kept for future reference as part of the archive.
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Stream Invertebrate Glossary Aquatic -
Refers to an organism that grows or lives in water. Archiving - Collecting and preserving specimens for future reference. Biological indicator - An organism whose occurrence in a particular area indicates whether or not that environment is ecologically healthy. Community
- Group of interacting organisms in a particular ecosystem. Dispersion - Spreading out or scattering. Diversity - Number of different kinds of species in a particular habitat; a measure of biological differences. Fauna - Animals or animal life of a region or ecosystem. Gallery forest - Forested or wooded area that lines a stream or river. Invertebrate - Animal without a backbone or internal skeleton, but with an external skeleton made of chitin. Midge - a tiny fly with one pair of wings in the adult stage. oligochaetes - Any of a class of segmented worms such as the earthworm. Population
- Group
of organisms of the same species living in a particular region. Quantitative - How much there is of something you can measure and represent with numbers. Reach - A uniform section of stream with a repeating chain of physical characteristics and habitat types, such as pool-riffle-pool. Surber bottom sampler - Specialized net with a defined sample area used to collect stream invertebrates. Turbellarian - Any of a class of free-living flatworms such as planaria
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