Monday, May 26, 2008 - 11:15 AM
53

Does anyone prefer urban wetlands? A landscape pattern for odonate conservation in New England

Maria A. Aliberti, Dept. Plant Science and Entomology, University of Rhode Island, Woodward Hall, 2nd Floor, Kingston, RI 02881 and Howard S. Ginsberg, Professor In Residence, USGS Pautexent Wildlife Research Center, Coastal Field Station, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881.

We looked at patterns in emerging dragonfly populations at small, lentic wetlands along an urban-rural gradient in Rhode Island, USA during three field seasons.  The emerging community patterns varied along the urbanization, wetland size and proximity to the coast gradients, and were also influenced by the presence/absence of fish populations.  Four abundant species occurred predominantly in urban wetlands, generally with high chloride concentration and low percent forested buffer.  A path analysis model showed significant contributions of urbanization and presence/absence of fish to the distributions of these four species.  Therefore, lentic urban wetlands have clear conservation value for dragonflies, and might even serve as preferred habitats for certain species. 


Web Page: path analysis, urban wetlands, Odonata

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