Chironomidae (Diptera) and Vegetation in a Created Wetland and Implications for Sampling

Although invertebrate communities are used in the evaluation of created freshwater wetlands, spatial patterns of invertebrate community structure are frequently ignored. Invertebrate distributions are generally associated with plant community distribution in natural aquatic ecosystems. In this study, 180 core samples were collected to examine associations between chironomid (Diptera) genera and emergent vegetation communities in a single created freshwater herbaceous wetland in central Florida. Three of the five common genera were significantly more abundant (p \u3c 0.05, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test) in areas with greater than 50% cover by emergent vegetation than in open water, but no differences were found between areas dominated by Pontederia cordata and areas dominated by mixed emergent vegetation. Samples from an area of open water and an area with over 80% cover by P. cordata showed significant differences in abundances of all common chironomid genera (P \u3c 0.05, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test). Results suggest that sampling designs for studies comparing benthic invertebrate communities from natural and created wetlands should consider the possible associations between vegetation and invertebrate communities