Factors Influencing Macroinvertebrate Diversity and Community Composition in Riverine Freshwater Rock Pools

摘要

I examined a system of 378-riverine rock pools situated along the James River in Richmond, Virginia, to uncover the factors influencing their macroinvertebrate diversity and community composition. I characterized (total = 60) the physical characteristics, water quality, hydrology, and community assemblages in July 2009 for a subset of pools. I examined whether selected environmental factors (pH, nearest neighbor distance, depth, surface area and inundation height) were related to macroinvertebrate diversity and community composition. Species richness and total abundance of all taxa increased with pool pH and surface area. Ordination indicates that nearest neighbor distance (NND) and pH varied significantly among pools. My findings indicate that macroinvertebrate diversity in this rock pool system were mainly related to the surface area, pH and NND.