<p> Amphipods are found in large numbers from the top elevation at the Nature Institute (TNI) in Madison County, IL to lower areas of the stream that flow into the Mississippi River. Amphipod success depends greatly on their ability to survive dynamic streams with changing flow and physical conditions. It would be thought that by the end of spring rains, all aquatic organisms would be washed downstream. After observations of persistence of amphipods at the highest reaches of a small fishless stream that experiences relatively severe flooding, the present study sought to determine if a relationship existed between stream elevation and microhabitat type with respect to amphipod abundance. Do certain microhabitats serve as systematically better refuges in flooding streams? This study also sought to determine if there was a relationship between amphipod size and stream elevation. Do larger or smaller amphipods persists better at different stream elevations? Two surveys were conducted in July 2015 with sampling at 8 different elevation zones which included 5 microhabitats. One survey was conducted in August 2015 at 10 different elevation zones (8 of which were repeat areas from July), with samples taken from various elevations along the stream from 5 microhabitats. A total of 2,616 amphipods (Gammarus pseudolimnaeus) were collected over the two-month time period, collected, counted and body length measured. Results did not show a relationship between amphipod body length and stream elevation, nor was there a relationship between amphipod abundance and stream elevation.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10013969 |
| Date | 20 February 2016 |
| Creators | Laaker, Angela Lynn |
| Publisher | Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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