The Ecology of Invertebrates in Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands: Current Knowledge and Research Needs

Abstract

This review summarizes the comparatively sparse information on the community structure, population dynamics, secondary productivity, and trophic relationships of invertebrates in coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Community structure is discussed in terms of separate but interrelated communities comprising the zooplankton, zoobenthos, epiphytic invertebrates, and neuston. The composition and dynamics of these communities are controlled by a complex set of interacting and continuously changing biotic and abiotic factors. Much additional research is required before a fundamental understanding of invertebrate ecology in Great Lakes coastal wetlands can be achieved. Particular research needs include elucidation of geographic differences in community structure and dynamics within and among wetlands of the same and contrasting types; the influence of micro- and macro-habitat differences and environmental stresses on invertebrate communities; the contribution of invertebrates to energy and materials flow in wetland food webs; the interactions of wetland invertebrates with the adjoining lake biota; the role of invertebrates in nutrient and pollutant transformations and cycling within the wetlands; the impact of changing land uses in wetland watersheds and of wetland alteration on the invertebrate communities, and the consequential impacts of these changes on the ecology of the lakes; and the impact on wetland invertebrate communities of predation pressure and competition from exotic species.