We evaluated the family-level richness and abundance of aquatic and terrestrial arthropods in marine supralittoral habitats and related arthropod assemblages to the presence and composition of supralittoral vegetation. Using pan traps, we collected 12,226 arthropods in 24 taxa. Collembolans (Entomobryomorpha, Hypogastruridae), amphipods (Talitridae), and midges (Chironomidae) were the most abundant taxa. Regardless of habitat associations, arthropod abundance was higher in sites with supralittoral vegetation than in the site where vegetation had been removed for townhouse development. This was true for both aquatic and terrestrial arthropods. Our results suggest that removal of supralittoral vegetation may have cascading effects on supralittoral arthropod communities and may adversely affect the productivity of both aquatic and terrestrial arthropods.
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1 December 2003
Associations Between Arthropods and the Supralittoral Ecotone: Dependence of Aquatic and Terrestrial Taxa on Riparian Vegetation
Tamara N. Romanuk,
Colin D. Levings
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algal wrack
estuarine
insects
Riparian vegetation
supralittoral