Environmental, Taxonomic, and Stable Isotope Data from Aquatic Insects sampled from Beaver-Engineered Headwater Streams (Adirondack Park, NY; 2024).

This data package contains environmental and biological data from a field study examining aquatic insect assemblage composition and basal resource use in beaver-engineered headwater streams in Adirondack Park, New York. Data was collected from six streams across two watersheds; the Oswegatchie River Watershed and Upper Hudson River Watershed. Three streams were sampled within the Oswegatchie River Watershed; East Creek, Sucker Brook, and Chair Rock Creek located near the Cranberry Lake Biological Station in St. Lawrence County. Three streams were sampled from the Upper Hudson River Watershed; Big Sucker Brook, Little Sucker Brook, and Panther Brook located near SUNY ESF’s Newcomb Campus in Essex County. Site conditions were characterized using densiometer measurements of canopy cover, visual assessments of substrate composition, and river discharge measurements collected with an OTT MF Pro flow meter. Aquatic insect assemblages were sampled using multihabitat active sampling and Hester–Dendy and leaf-bag passive samplers, with specimens identified to genus and assigned to functional feeding groups. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were analyzed for a subset of insect taxa and three basal resource pools; coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM), fine particulate organic matter (FPOM), and periphytic algae. The Bayesian mixing model MixSIAR was used to estimate the proportional contribution of these primary sources to aquatic insect biomass. All data was collected between June and August 2024.