DOI: 10.5063/aa/bowdish.819.26
title: Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP): Activity trap data (1980-1989)

description: The Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP) was a long-term interdisciplinary study on the ecology of prairie wetlands. A scientific team from a variety of disciplines (hydrology, plant ecology, invertebrate ecology, vertebrate ecology, nutrient dynamics, marsh management) was assembled to design and oversee a long-term experiment on the effects of water-level manipulation on northern prairie wetlands. Ten years of fieldwork (1980 -1989), combining a routine long-term monitoring program and a series of short-term studies, generated a wealth of new and diverse information on the ecology and function of prairie wetlands. This data package includes activity trap data, collected as part of the invertebrate section of MERP. Invertebrate monitoring during the Marsh Ecology Research Project (MERP) has explored the effects of short- and long-term water level and associated vegetation changes on invertebrate populations. This project has produced an extensive and multi-faceted data set depicting the distribution and variation of invertebrates within a prairie wetland in flux. Invertebrate sampling occurred in the controlled MERP cells on the Delta Marsh. Sampling stations within each cell were stratified based on dominant vegetation cover in order to increase sampling efficiency, as this reflects bottom contours. Activity traps were used at sites with standing water to provide an index of free-swimming invertebrates (Murkin et al. 1983). For further information on the Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP), please visit: http://www.ducks.ca/conserve/research/projects/merp/index.html References: Murkin, H.R., P.G. Abbott, and J.A. Kadlec. 1983. A comparison of activity traps and sweep nets for sampling nektonic invertebrates in wetlands. Freshwater Invert. Bio. 2: 99-106. Murkin, H.R., B.D.J. Batt, P.J. Caldwell, J.A. Kadlec and A.G. van der Valk. 2000a. Introduction to the Marsh Ecology Research Program. In Prairie Wetland Ecology: The Contribution of the Marsh Ecology Research Program. (Eds) H.R. Murkin, A.G. van der Valk and W.R. Clark. pp. 3-15. Ames: Iowa State University Press. Resulting Publications from MERP Invertebrate Data Murkin, H.R., P.A. Abbott, and J.A. Kadlec. 1983. A comparison of activity traps and sweep nets for sampling nektonic invertebrates in wetlands. Freshwater Invertebrate Biology 2: 99-106. Murkin, H.R., and J.A. Kadlec. 1986a. Relationships between waterfowl and macroinvertebrate densities in a northern prairie marsh. Journal of Wildlife Management 50: 212-217. Murkin, H.R., and J.A. Kadlec. 1986b. Responses by benthic macroinvertebrates to prolonged flooding of marsh habitat. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64: 65-72. Murkin, H.R., J.A. Kadlec, and E.J. Murkin. 1991. Effects of prolonged flooding on nektonic invertebrates in small diked marshed. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48: 2355-2364. Murkin, H.R., and L.C.M. Ross. 1999. Northern prairie marshes (Delta Marsh, Manitoba): macroinvertebrate responses to a simulated wet-dry cycle. In Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America: Ecology and Management. (Eds.) D. Batzer, R.D. Rader, and S.A. Wissinger, pp. 543-569. New York: Wiley. Murkin, H.R., and L.C.M. Ross. 2000. Invertebrates in Prairie Wetlands. In Prairie Wetland Ecology: The Contribution of the Marsh Ecology Research Program. (Eds.) H.R. Murkin, A.G. van der Valk, and W.R. Clark, pp. 201-248. Iowa: Iowa State University Press. Ross, L.C.M., and H.R. Murkin. 1993. The effect of above-normal flooding of a northern prairie marsh on Agraylea multipunctata Curtis (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae). Journal of Freshwater Ecology 8: 27-35. Wrubleski, D.A. 1999. Northern prairie marshes (Delta Marsh, Manitoba): Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to changing plant communities in newly flooded habitats. In Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America: Ecology and Management. (Eds.) D. Batzer, R.D. Rader, and S.A. Wissinger, pp. 543-569. New York: Wiley. Wrubleski, D.A. 2005. Chironomidae (Diptera) responses to the experimental flooding of prairie marshes. Wetlands 25 (1): 200-209. Additional MERP Publications on Invertebrate Populations Campeau, S., H.R. Murkin, and R.D. Titman. 1994. The relative importance of algae and emergent plant litter to freshwater marsh invertebrates. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 51: 681-692. Murkin, H.R., and B.D.J. Batt. 1987. The interactions of vertebrates and invertebrates in peatlands and marshes. In Aquatic Insects of peatlands and Marshes in Canada. (Eds.) D.M. Rosenberg and H.V. Danks, pp. 15-30. Memoirs of Entomological Society of Canada 140. Murkin, H.R., and D.A. Wrubleski. 1988. Aquatic invertebrates of freshwater marshes: fuction and ecology. In The Ecology and Management of Wetlands. Volume 1: Ecology of Wetlands. (Eds.) D.D. Hook, W.H. McKee, H.K. Smith, J. Gregory, V.G. Burrell, M.R. DeVoe, R.E. Sojka, S. Gilbert, R. Banks, L.H. Stolzy, C. Brooks, T.D. Matthews, and T.H. Shear, pp. 239-249. Portland: Timber Press. Murkin, E.J., H.R. Murkin, and R.D. Titman. 1992. Nektonic invertebrate abundance and distribution at the emergent vegetation – open water interface in the Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Wrtlands 12: 45-52. Neckles, H.A., H.R. Murkin, and J.A. Cooper. 1990. Influences of seasonal flooding on macroinvertebrate abundance in wetland habitats. Freshwater Biology 23: 311-322. Nelson, J.W., and J.A. Kadlec. 1984. A conceptual approach to relating habitat structure and macroinvertebrate production in freshwater wetlands. Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 49: 262-270. Nelson, J.W., J.A. Kadlec, and H.R. Murkin. 1990. responses by macro-invertebrates to cattail litter quality and timing of litter submergence in a northern prairie marsh. Wetlands 10 47-60. Peterson, L.P., H.R. Murkin, and D.A. Wrubleski. 1989. Waterfowl predation on benthic macroinvertebrates during fall drawdown of a northern prairie marsh. In Freshwater Wetlands and Wildlife. (Eds.) R.R. Sharitz and J.W. Gibbons, pp. 681-689. DOE Symposium Series No. 61, Oak Ridge: USDOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information. Wrubleski, D.A. 1987. Chironomidae (Diptera) of peatlands and marshes in Canada. In Aquatic Insects of Peatlands and Marshes in Canada. (Eds.) D.M. Rosenberg and H.V. Danks, pp. 141-161. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 140. Wrubleski, D.A. 1989. The effect of waterfowl feeding activity on a chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) community. In Freshwater Wetlands and Wildlife. (Eds.) R.R. Sharitz and J.W. Gibbons, pp. 691-696. USDOE Symposium Series 61, Oak Ridge: USDOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information. Wrubleski, D.A., and D.M. Rosenberg. 1984. Overestimates of Chironomidae (Diptera) abundance from emergence traps with polystyrene floats. American Midland Naturalist 111: 195-197. Wrubleski, D.A., and S.S. Roback. 1987. Two species of Procladius (Diptera: Chironomidae) from a northern prairie marsh: descriptions, phenologies, and mating behavior. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 6: 198-212. Wrubleski, D.A., and L.C.M. Ross. 1989. Diel periodicities of adult emergence of Chronomidae and Trichoptera from the Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 5: 163-169. Wrubleski, D.A., and D.M. Rosenberg. 1990. The Chironomidae (Diptera) of Bone Pile Pond, Delta Marsh, Manitoba, Canada. Wetlands 10: 243-275.