Okefenokee Swamp Macroinvertebrates

Abstract

Proceedings of the 2001 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 26 and 27, 2001, Athens, Georgia.The Okefenokee Swamp is one of the largest wetlands in North America, covering 3781 km² of the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain. Despite the prominence and magnitude of the Okefenokee, little is known about the resident invertebrate fauna. We conducted a 2 year study to describe the aquatic invertebrate communities and their spatial and temporal variation within the Okefenokee Swamp. We collected invertebrates from 6 sampling areas spread across 3 hydrologic units. Within each area, sampling was stratified to include aquatic (lake, river, or canal), herbaceous marsh, scrub-shrub, and cypress habitats. Sampling was conducted in May, August, and December of each year The invertebrate community structure is unique, but not especially diverse.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397) or the other conference sponsors