Invertebrates in great lakes marshes

Abstract

Marshes of the Laurentian Great Lakes are important habitats for fish, amphibians, reptiles, wading birds, and waterfowl, which all utilize invertebrates for food. Surveys have identified over 300 macroinvertebrate genera in Great Lakes marshes with insects and crustaceans being particularly well represented. Despite this diversity, a small subset of taxa tend to be numerically dominant. For example, the ten most abundant taxa represented 61 % of the organisms collected in a survey of 319 marshes. Conservation efforts are currently focused on protecting and restoring Great Lakes marshes, and invertebrate assemblage structure is being used as a key indicator of marsh health.