Empirical Relationships of Phytomacrofaunal Abundance to Plant Biomass and Macrophyte Bed Characteristics

Abstract

The abundance of phytophilous invertebrates was measured in 13 macrophyte beds and was related, using multiple regression analysis, to the biomass of macrophytes among which the invertebrates were collected, the average plant biomass growing per unit lake area, water and organic matter content of the sediments, total phosphorus concentration in the water, rooting depth of the macrophyte bed, and sampling date. Quantitative analyses are presented for chironomids, cladocerans, cyclopoid copepods, gastropods, water mites (Hydracarina), ostracods, and trichopterans. R2 values for the regression equations ranged from 0.43 to 0.81. The abundance of invertebrates was best related to the biomass of separate plant species, but equations based only on total plant biomass sometimes had equivalent R2 values, in general, the abundance of phytophilous invertebrates was positively related to areal plant biomass, sediment organic matter, and lake trophic status and negatively related to depth. The abundance of phytophilous invertebrates generally rose throughout the sampling season. The sign of the relationship with sediment water content, however, varied among invertebrate taxa. Macrophyte beds with high areal plant biomass, in lakes with high total phosphorus concentration, support the greatest abundance of potential invertebrate food for fish and waterfowl.