Browse Units


Contact Information

Southern
Research Station

200 W.T. Weaver Blvd.
Asheville, NC
28804-3454
(828) 257-4832
(828) 259-0503 TTY

Publication Information

 Evaluate this publication
How Do You Rate This Publication?
  Bookmark and Share       Mail this page

Title: Invertabrates Associated with Woody Debris in a Southeastern U.S. Forested Floodplain Wetland
Author(s): Braccia, Amy; Batzer, Darold P.
Date: 2001
Source: Wetlands, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2001, pp. 18-31
Description: Woody debris is an ecologically important resource in upland forests and stream ecosystems. Although much is known about invertebrate-woody debris interactions in forests and streams, little information exists for forested wetlands. In this study, invertebrates associated with woody debris in a Southeastern U. S. forested floodplain are described and factors that shape community structure are examined. Woody debris samples were collected during two wet (March 1998 and 1999) and one dry period (August 1998) from a bottomland hardwood wetland along the Coosawhatchie River, South Carolina, USA. During wet period collections, both submersed and floating woody debris were collected. Invertebrate richness, density, and arthropod standing-stock biomass were compared among sampling periods (wet and dry), between floating and submersed wood, and among woody debris decay classes. Most invertebrate richness and arthropod biomass was associated with wood collected during wet periods. However, the non-aquatic rather than aquatic arthropods were the most significant component of the overall community structure. Floating woody debris was a "hot spot" for invertebrate richness and arthropod biomass. Increased invertebrate richness was also associated with well-decayed wood. Invertebrates were classified based on temporal use of woody debris and included perennial residents, seasonal colonizers, and seasonal refugees. Overall findings suggest that woody debris is an important resource for invertebrates, and wood-associated invertebrates (especially non-aquatics) need to he considered when studying the diversity and function of forested wetlands.
View and Print this Publication (358 KB)     Evaluate this publication
Pristine Version: An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (1.9 MB)

Publication Notes: We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain. Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact the SRS Webmaster, srswebmaster@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unuseable.
 [ Get Acrobat ] Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility