Macroinvertebrate and vertebrate fauna of temporary pools, Hudson River Valley, New York, USA

ABSTRACT

Collections of vertebrates and macroinvertebrates over two years from 26 lentic temporary water bodies each surveyed 1–4 times, in Ulster and Dutchess counties in the Hudson Valley of New York, USA, resulted in identifications of 166 species. These included species resident in temporary waters that have life stages resistant to drying and freezing, species that reproduce in temporary waters that need to mature before drying occurs, predatory species that visit temporary waters, and highly aquatic species that move overland to temporary waters. Temporary waters sampled had a range of hydroperiods from a few weeks to almost a year. Of the macroinvertebrates we identified to species, 75 were each collected in a single pool-survey (n = 62 pool-surveys). Pools with greater volume, more vegetation cover, lower pH and turbidity, and more sodium yielded greater species richness of macroinvertebrates, and species richness of certain taxa (eg Mollusca) were correlated with additional elements. We briefly discuss several unusual animal occurrences.

KEYWORDS:

• Spinicaudata
• Syneches
• Lumbriculus
• Chaoboridae
• Procambarus
• Misgurnus
• wetlands

Acknowledgements

We thank the landowners and permitting entities for permission to conduct surveys. We also thank numerous persons who assisted in the field or directed us to pools. D. Christopher Rogers (clam shrimp), Steve Fend (oligochaetes), Kathleen Schmidt (molluscs), Mark Siddall (leeches), and Ken Tennessen (odonates) determined or verified specimens. Lea Stickle drafted Figure 1. EMW thanks the Bard College Chemistry Program for use of their ICP-OES. This paper is a joint contribution of Hudsonia and the Bard College Field Station.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by Will Nixon.