AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER ON MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES AT TWO LANDSCAPE SCALES

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1 AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER ON MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES AT TWO LANDSCAPE SCALES Tanya Sulikowski and Dr. Meiyin Wu Department of Biology and Molecular Biology Montclair State University, Montclair New Jersey

2 2010 Census: 8,414,350 Projected population by 2030: 9,802,440

3 Forest Agriculture Urban

4 stroudcenter.org

5 Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Mollusks, Crustaceans, Arachnids and Insects Planarian, Dugesia sp. Leech, Erpobdellidae Jaxshells.org Left-handed pondsnail, Physella heterostropha Scud, Gammarus fasciatus Water mite, Arrenunus sp. Snail case caddisfly, Helicopsyche sp.

6 Decomposition acceleration Nutrient release through feeding, burrowing and excretion Food source for other organisms Black fly larvae and pupa, Simuliidae

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10 To examine the effects of land use/ land cover (LULC) on benthic macroinvertebrate communities at two landscape scales; watershed and riparian zone. Two hypotheses: 1) Urbanization will have a negative impact on macroinvertebrate communities 2) Riparian zone scale will be a better indicator than watershed scale of macroinvertebrate community condition

11 Three watersheds in northern New Jersey with varying dominant land use/land cover types 1.Forested, Flat Brook 2.Agricultural, Wallkill 3.Urban, Rockaway

12 A. B. C. A. Flat Brook B. Walkill C. Rockaway

13 A. B. C. A. Flat Brook B. Wallkill C. Rockaway

14 Established three transects per site (20 m apart) 0 m --o----o----o-- Collected three samples along each transect using a Hess sampler 20 m ---o----o----o m -----o------o o-----

15 Over 300 hours of volunteer picking and sorting Almost 400 hours dedicated to identification Samples verified by NJDEP Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Monitoring

16 Single Value Metrics taxa richness density % EPT, EPT Richness Shannon Weiner Index (H ) mean pollution tolerance value (MPTV) % non-insect % Chironomidae functional feeding groups Green Snaketail Dragonfly, Ophiogomphus cecilia

17 Multimetric Indices Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI) HBI= (n)(a) N HBI- Score of 0-10 (0 being least impaired) n = number of individuals of each taxon a = tolerance value of each taxon N = total number of organisms in the sample High Gradient Macroinvertebrate Index (HGMI) 8 metrics: watershed area, total number of genera, % noninsects, % EPT, HBI, number of highly sensitive & uncommon genera, number of sensitive & common (HGMI- >63=Excellent, 63-42= Good, 42-21=Fair, <21=poor)

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20 3,908 individuals identified (17 orders, 60 families and 106 different taxa) Each taxa was assigned a pollution tolerance value and functional feeding group designation (based on NJ Department of Environmental Protection criteria). Case building caddisfly, Trichoptera

21 A strong relationship exists between land use and the health of biological communities

22 A strong relationship exists between land use and the health of biological communities HBI- Score of 0-10 (0 = least impaired) (HGMI- >63=Excellent, 63-42= Good, 42-21=Fair, <21=poor)

23 To determine if land use impacted the species richess and number of EPT species Urban LULC was found to significantly impact the number of EPT species

24 Percent forest cover was the best predictor of macroinvertebrate communities at both watershed and riparian scales The impact of agricultural watersheds on macroinvertebrate communities was more significant than urban watershed impact Watershed scale is a better predictor than riparian scale of macroinvertebrate communities

25 Drinking water Canaries in coalmine Long term planning

26 The Sokol Family- Summer Research Fellowship Award Montclair State University s Interdisciplinary Research Award National Science Foundation- Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Allen Barlow of the Nature Conservancy of New Jersey Dean Bryson, Anna Signor, Tom Miller and Victor Poretti of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Dr. Meiyin Wu, thesis advisor Dr. Josh Galster and Dr. Scott Kight, thesis committee Dr. Haiyan Su, statistical support The faculty and staff of the NJ School of Conservation Dr. Lisa Hazard and Rose Lipala, Department of Biology Dean Robert Prezant and Rebecca Shell Numerous field and lab volunteers Narrow-winged damselfly, Coenagrionidae