Invertebrate community variation in seasonal forest wetlands: Implications for sampling and analyses

Abstract

Using data sets from two separate studies, we assessed within-year variation in aquatic invertebrate communities in 31 seasonally flooded (seasonal) wetlands in aspen (Populus spp.) — dominated forests in north central Minnesota. Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that, in each case, three axes explained > 55% of variance in aquatic invertebrates, with the first axis strongly correlated with sampling date. Indicator species tests showed that this variation along axis 1 was largely due to shifts in abundance of crustaceans, Diptera and other insects, leeches, and other taxa. Temporal shifts in aquatic invertebrate community structure pose a major obstacle for ecological studies of aquatic invertebrates in seasonal forest wetlands and should receive more attention from investigators planning research in these and perhaps other wetland habitats.