University of Worcester Worcester Research and Publications
 
  USER PANEL:
  ABOUT THE COLLECTION:
  CONTACT DETAILS:

When is the Best Time to Sample Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Ponds for Biodiversity Assessment?

Hill, Matthew, Sayer, C.D. and Wood, P.J. (2016) When is the Best Time to Sample Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Ponds for Biodiversity Assessment? Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188 (194). ISSN 0167-6369 ESSN: 1573-2959

[img] Text
Hill_When is the best time to sample aquatic macroinvertebrates in ponds for biodiversity assessment(1).pdf - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (429kB) | Request a copy
[img]
Preview
Text
Hill2016_Article_WhenIsTheBestTimeToSampleAquat.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (701kB) | Preview

Abstract

Ponds are sites of high biodiversity and conservation value, yet there is little or no statutory monitoring of them across most of Europe. There are clear and standardized protocols for sampling aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in ponds but the most suitable time(s) to undertake the survey(s) remains poorly specified. This paper examined the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities from 95 ponds within different landuse types over three seasons (spring, summer and autumn) to determine the most appropriate time to undertake sampling to characterise biodiversity. The combined samples from all three seasons provided the most comprehensive record of the aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa recorded within ponds (alpha and gamma diversity). Samples collected during the autumn survey yielded significantly greater macroinvertebrate richness (76% of the total diversity) than either spring or summer surveys. Macroinvertebrate diversity was greatest during autumn in meadow and agricultural ponds but taxon richness among forest and urban ponds did not differ significantly temporally. The autumn survey provided the highest measures of richness for Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Odonata. However, richness of the aquatic insect order Trichoptera was highest in spring and lowest in autumn. The results illustrate that multiple surveys, covering more than one season, provide the most comprehensive representation of macroinvertebrate biodiversity. When sampling can only be undertaken on one occasion, the most appropriate time to undertake surveys to characterise the macroinvertebrate community biodiversity is during the autumn; although this may need to be modified if other floral and faunal groups need to be incorporated in to the sampling programme.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information:

This is the accepted version of the journal article. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5178-6
The full-text can be accessed via the Official URL.

Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: ponds, biodiversity and conservation value, comprehensive representation of macroinvertebrate biodiversity, no statutory monitoring
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GB Physical geography
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions: College of Health, Life and Environmental Sciences > School of Science and the Environment
Related URLs:
Copyright Info: Open access article
Depositing User: Matthew Hill
Date Deposited: 21 Nov 2016 12:04
Last Modified: 17 Jun 2020 17:14
URI: https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/5087

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
 
     
Worcester Research and Publications is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.