caa a22 4500 445892404 CHVBK 20180317145620.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10750-011-0694-4 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10750-011-0694-4 Wildfire induced changes in aquatic invertebrate communities and mercury bioaccumulation in the Okefenokee Swamp [Elektronische Daten] [Sarah Beganyi, Darold Batzer] Fire is an important natural disturbance in the Okefenokee Swamp. From April-June 2007, wildfire burned 75% of the wetland area. With the existence of extensive pre-fire data sets on community structure and total mercury of invertebrates, the fire presented an opportunity to assess impacts of wildfire on invertebrates. Post-fire collection of samples occurred in September, December, and May, 2007-2009. Sample sites included 13 burned and 8 non-burned (reference) sites. Comparisons of data among pre-fire, post-fire reference, and post-fire burned sites revealed that the major difference between pre-fire communities and post-fire communities was a decrease in the number of water mites. We also found a decrease in mercury concentrations in amphipods, odonates, and crayfish post-fire. The differences between pre-fire and post-fire samples may be confounded by drought conditions during the baseline study. NMDS ordinations and ANOSIM tests suggested that habitat was an important factor; communities in burned cypress differed from reference cypress. Unexpectedly, burned sites had lower mercury concentrations in odonates and crayfish, with variation again being greatest in cypress stands. These findings and others suggest mercury levels do not follow a predictable pattern but can vary with pre-fire concentrations, variation in water levels, and burn intensity. We found that wildfire in the Okefenokee had little impact on invertebrates in prairies and scrub-shrub thickets, but can affect indicator organisms (Oecetis, Ischnura, and Sigara) in cypress stands. Our study suggests that vegetation type and burn intensity may have impacts on the invertebrate communities and mercury concentrations of organisms. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2011 Community structure nationallicence Fire nationallicence Gambusia nationallicence Macroinvertebrate nationallicence Wetland nationallicence Beganyi Sarah Department of Entomology, The University of Georgia, 413 Biological Sciences Building, 30602, Athens, GA, USA aut Batzer Darold Department of Entomology, The University of Georgia, 413 Biological Sciences Building, 30602, Athens, GA, USA aut Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 669/1(2011-07-01), 237-247 0018-8158 669:1<237 2011 669 10750 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0694-4 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0694-4 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Beganyi Sarah Department of Entomology, The University of Georgia, 413 Biological Sciences Building, 30602, Athens, GA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Batzer Darold Department of Entomology, The University of Georgia, 413 Biological Sciences Building, 30602, Athens, GA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 669/1(2011-07-01), 237-247 0018-8158 669:1<237 2011 669 10750 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer