CHIRONOMIDAE (DIPTERA) AND VEGETATION IN A CREATED WETLAND AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SAMPLING

Although invertebrate communities are used in the evaluation of create d freshwater wetlands, spatial patterns of invertebrate community stru cture are frequently ignored. Invertebrate distributions are generally associated with plant community distribution in natural aquatic ecosy stems. In this study, 180 core samples were collected to examine assoc iations between chironomid (Diptera) genera and emergent vegetation co mmunities in a single created freshwater herbaceous wetland in central Florida. Three of the five common genera were significantly more abun dant (p<0.05, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test) in areas with greater than 50% c over by emergent vegetation than in open water, but no differences wer e found between areas dominated by Pontederia cordata and areas domina ted by mixed emergent vegetation. Samples from an area of open water a nd an area with over 80% cover by P. cordata showed significant differ ences in abundances of all common chironomid genera (P<0.05, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test). Results suggest that sampling designs for studies comp aring benthic invertebrate communities from natural and created wetlan ds should consider the possible associations between vegetation and in vertebrate communities.