Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities and Water Quality at Buffered and Non-Buffered Wetland Sites on Federal Waterfowl Production Areas in the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska

Authors

John R. Riens, U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceFollow
Matt S. Schwarz, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fatima Mustafa, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
William Wyatt Hoback, Oklahoma State University - Main CampusFollow

Date of this Version

2013

Citation

Published in Wetlands (2013) DOI: 10.1007/s13157-013-0460-7

Abstract

Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin has an abundance of natural wetlands and is a focal point in the annual migration corridor used by millions of waterfowl and shorebirds. However, these wetlands are in a landscape dominated by agriculture and as a result, siltation and poor water quality are continual problems. We evaluated twelve wetland sites on federally managed Waterfowl Protection Areas from 2007 – 2009 for water quality, sediment quality, andmacroinvertebrate diversity. Six of the sites received agricultural runoff directly via culverts and drainage ditches (non-buffered sites) and six siteswere protected from agricultural runoff by a vegetated buffer (buffered sites). Mean total number of aquatic macroinvertebrates were significantly greater (p