ESA Annual Meetings Online Program

Comparison of functional traits to determine land use effects on macroinvertebrates of northern Mongolian streams

Sunday, November 11, 2012: 2:30 PM
200 D, Floor Two (Knoxville Convention Center)
Oyunchuluun Yadamsuren , School of Agricultural Forest and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Saara DeWalt , School of Agricultural Forest and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
John Morse , School of Agricultural Forest and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Peter H. Adler , School of Agricultural, Forest, and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Jon K. Gelhaus , Department of Entomology, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA
Bryan L. Brown , Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA
Quantifying the functional diversity of communities in a functional-trait-based approach can be a powerful tool for predicting general ecological responses of those communities to habitat variation and disturbance. Furthermore, such a tool is less constrained by biogeography than current methods of community assessment. At present, the quality and quantity of water resources are being degraded by overgrazing, mining and climate change throughout Mongolia. This study aims to determine land use effects on stream macroinvertebrate communities comparing their functional traits with regard to mining and overgrazing in northern Mongolia.