SREL Reprint #2822

Are Microcrustaceans Useful for Assessing Success of Wetland Pond Restoration? (South Carolina)

Barbara E. Taylor and Adrienne E, DeBiase

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802

Abstract: The numerous Carolina bays and other wetland ponds of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the southeastern United States support abundant microcrustaceans (Taylor and others 1999). Microcrustaceans are important consumers in these wetlands, and they in turn are consumed by larval salamanders, insects, and other predators. However, microcrustaceans are rarely considered in assessment studies because they are perceived to be too patchy to sample, too small to collect, too numerous to count, and too difficult to identify. Our data on responses of microcrustaceans to wetland pond restoration on the 19,344-acre (7,690-ha) Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina provide some perspective on how they may be useful in assessing the health and environmental changes in these systems.

SREL Reprint #2822

Taylor, B. E. and A. E. DeBiase. 2005. Are microcrustaceans useful for assessing success of wetland pond restoration? (South Carolina). Ecological Restoration 23:56-57.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).