New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Microhabitat preferences of benthic invertebrates and the development of generalised Deleatidium spp. habitat suitability curves, applied to four New Zealand rivers

IAN JOWETT

Freshwater Fisheries Centre Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries P. O. Box 8324, Riccarton Christchurch, New Zealand

JODY RICHARDSON

Fisheries Research Centre Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries P. O. Box 6016, Rotorua, New Zealand

BARRY J.F. BIGGS

Hydrology Centre
DSIR Marine and Freshwater
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
P. O. Box 22-037, Christchurch, New Zealand

CHRISTOPHER W. HICKEY

JOHNM.QUINN

Water Quality Centre
DSIR Marine and Freshwater
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
P. O. Box 11-115, Hamilton, New Zealand

Abstract Microhabitat preferences of 12 benthic invertebrate taxa were investigated in four New Zealand rivers. Most taxa showed significant habitat preferences. Generally, taxa were more abundant in water less than 0.75 m deep and in gravel or coarser substrates, and no taxa showed a clear preference for fine substrate (sand and fine gravel) or deep water. Coloburiscus humeralis, Zelandoperla spp., and Aoteapsyche spp. preferred coarse substrate and water velocities of more than 0.75 m s"¹, whereas Nesa-meletus spp. and Pycnocentrodes spp. were associated with similar substrate but lower water velocities (0.2-0.8 m s"¹). Naididae preferred low (< 0.3 m S"¹) water velocities, Potamopyrgus antipodarum and Chiro-nomidae low to moderate velocities (0.0-0.75 m s"¹), and all three were associated with a broad range of substrates. Deleatidium spp., Olingaferedayi, Hydro-biosidae, and Aphrophila neozelandica were found in a wide range of habitats. Velocity, depth, and substrate suitability curves developed for Deleatidium in each of the four rivers also demonstrated the broad habitat tolerances of this genus. Generalised suitability curves formed by enveloping, rather than averaging, curves from each of the rivers performed favourably when compared to models based on suitability curves developed for each river individually. Correlations between Deleatidium abundance and the joint suitability function, calculated from the generalised velocity, depth, and substrate curves, were significant but poor (r = 0.44-0.69) in each of the four rivers. The intercepts of the linear relationships between Deleatidium abundance and the joint preference factor were not significantly different from zero for three of the four rivers, suggesting that the preference functions are applicable to in-stream flow assessments.

Keywords instream habitat; modelling; Deleatidium spp.; incremental methodology; habitat suitability function; microhabitat preference; benthic invertebrate

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1991, Vol. 25:187-199 0028-8330/2502-0187 $2.50/0 © Crown copyright 1991 Received 25 September 1990; Accepted 27 February 1991

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (961K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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