Abundance and diversity of aquatic invertebrates along the Carp Lake River.

Abstract

Aquatic invertebrate diversity and abundance is affected by many abiotic factors in the stream as well as the stream's distance to its destination and from its source. To determine to what degree of a relationship exists between abiotic conditions and the resulting diversity of aquatic invertebrates we studied four sites along the Carp Lake River which originates in Levering, MI. At each site we recorded pH, temperature, substrate composition, conductivity, velocity, discharge, depth, width, nutrient content, and dissolved oxygen. We then compared these findings to the number and types of aquatic invertebrates that we collected from each site using statistical analysis. We found that abundance and diversity of aquatic invertebrates did relate to various abiotic conditions, with substrate composition being the most important. While our findings did not follow those predicted in earlier studies that were similar in nature, we did observe a noticable correlation between abiotic factors and the degree of diversity, adjusted richness and evenness of aquatic invertebrates.