Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP): Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to the experimental flooding of prairie marshes (1985-1988)

The Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP) was a long-term interdisciplinary study on the ecology of prairie wetlands. A scientific team from a variety of disciplines (hydrology, plant ecology, invertebrate ecology, vertebrate ecology, nutrient dynamics, marsh management) was assembled to design and oversee a long-term experiment on the effects of water-level manipulation on northern prairie wetlands. Ten years of fieldwork (1980 -1989), combining a routine long-term monitoring program and a series of short-term studies, generated a wealth of new and diverse information on the ecology and function of prairie wetlands (Murkin, Batt, Caldwell, Kadlec and van der Valk, 2000). This data packages includes data collected as part of Dale Wrubleski's PhD, as part of the invertebrates section of MERP.
This study examined chironomid responses to the flooding of ten drained experimental marshes in Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Emergence traps were used to monitor chironomid emergence from three vegetation types (Symphyotrichum ciliatum, Scolochloa festucacea, and Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani) flooded at two water depths (shallow: 20-40 cm, deep: 50-70 cm) over a four-year period. Note that Dale Wrubleski's chironomid files are directly connected to the regular emergence trap sampling as part of the long-term monitoring program for invertebrates for MERP (stored in a separate data package on the KNB), and these counts are not independant of chironomid counts for the long-term sampling. This file only provides further classification of chironomid family/subfamily counts to species level, in addition to total biomass for each species, in a subsample of the cover types and sample sites monitored for the long-term invertebrate monitoring program.

For further information on the Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP), please visit: http://www.ducks.ca/conserve/research/projects/merp/index.html

References:
Murkin, H.R., B.D.J. Batt, P.J. Caldwell, J.A. Kadlec and A.G. van der Valk. 2000a. Introduction to the Marsh Ecology Research Program. In Prairie Wetland Ecology: The Contribution of the Marsh Ecology Research Program. (Eds) H.R. Murkin, A.G. van der Valk and W.R. Clark. pp. 3-15. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Wrubleski, D.A. 2005. Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to the experimental flooding of prairie marshes. Wetlands 25 (1): 200-209.

Resulting publications:
Wrubleski, D.A. 1999. Northern prairie marshes (Delta Marsh, Manitoba): Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to changing plant communities in newly flooded habitats. In Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America: Ecology and Management. (Eds.) D. Batzer, R.D. Rader, and S.A. Wissinger, pp. 543-569. New York: Wiley.
Wrubleski, D.A. 2005. Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to the experimental flooding of prairie marshes. Wetlands 25 (1): 200-209.

Additional MERP Publications on Invertebrate Populations
Campeau, S., H.R. Murkin, and R.D. Titman. 1994. The relative importance of algae and emergent plant litter to freshwater marsh invertebrates. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 51: 681-692.
Murkin, H.R., and B.D.J. Batt. 1987. The interactions of vertebrates and invertebrates in peatlands and marshes. In Aquatic Insects of peatlands and Marshes in Canada. (Eds.) D.M. Rosenberg and H.V. Danks, pp. 15-30. Memoirs of Entomological Society of Canada 140.
Murkin, H.R., and D.A. Wrubleski. 1988. Aquatic invertebrates of freshwater marshes: fuction and ecology. In The Ecology and Management of Wetlands. Volume 1: Ecology of Wetlands. (Eds.) D.D. Hook, W.H. McKee, H.K. Smith, J. Gregory, V.G. Burrell, M.R. DeVoe, R.E. Sojka, S. Gilbert, R. Banks, L.H. Stolzy, C. Brooks, T.D. Matthews, and T.H. Shear, pp. 239-249. Portland: Timber Press.
Murkin, E.J., H.R. Murkin, and R.D. Titman. 1992. Nektonic invertebrate abundance and distribution at the emergent vegetation – open water interface in the Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Wrtlands 12: 45-52.
Neckles, H.A., H.R. Murkin, and J.A. Cooper. 1990. Influences of seasonal flooding on macroinvertebrate abundance in wetland habitats. Freshwater Biology 23: 311-322.
Nelson, J.W., and J.A. Kadlec. 1984. A conceptual approach to relating habitat structure and macroinvertebrate production in freshwater wetlands. Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 49: 262-270.
Nelson, J.W., J.A. Kadlec, and H.R. Murkin. 1990. responses by macro-invertebrates to cattail litter quality and timing of litter submergence in a northern prairie marsh. Wetlands 10 47-60.
Peterson, L.P., H.R. Murkin, and D.A. Wrubleski. 1989. Waterfowl predation on benthic macroinvertebrates during fall drawdown of a northern prairie marsh. In Freshwater Wetlands and Wildlife. (Eds.) R.R. Sharitz and J.W. Gibbons, pp. 681-689. DOE Symposium Series No. 61, Oak Ridge: USDOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
Wrubleski, D.A. 1987. Chironomidae (Diptera) of peatlands and marshes in Canada. In Aquatic Insects of Peatlands and Marshes in Canada. (Eds.) D.M. Rosenberg and H.V. Danks, pp. 141-161. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 140.
Wrubleski, D.A. 1989. The effect of waterfowl feeding activity on a chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) community. In Freshwater Wetlands and Wildlife. (Eds.) R.R. Sharitz and J.W. Gibbons, pp. 691-696. USDOE Symposium Series 61, Oak Ridge: USDOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
Wrubleski, D.A., and D.M. Rosenberg. 1984. Overestimates of Chironomidae (Diptera) abundance from emergence traps with polystyrene floats. American Midland Naturalist 111: 195-197.
Wrubleski, D.A., and S.S. Roback. 1987. Two species of Procladius (Diptera: Chironomidae) from a northern prairie marsh: descriptions, phenologies, and mating behavior. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 6: 198-212.
Wrubleski, D.A., and L.C.M. Ross. 1989. Diel periodicities of adult emergence of Chronomidae and Trichoptera from the Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 5: 163-169.
Wrubleski, D.A., and D.M. Rosenberg. 1990. The Chironomidae (Diptera) of Bone Pile Pond, Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Wetlands 10: 243-275.